


Six Years Later

by marauder01



Series: a modern wizarding world [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Indian Potter Family (Harry Potter), M/M, POV Multiple, Sirius Black Lives, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin Raise Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:07:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23927350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marauder01/pseuds/marauder01
Summary: On that fateful Halloween night Albus commits a grave crime, having arrived at the Potters before Sirius did. It is only six years later that the wizarding world finds out the truth. Six years in which the legend of the boy who lived never existed.Six years after the war and the main players in our story have led very different lives than their au canon counterparts.
Relationships: Andromeda Black Tonks/Ted Tonks, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: a modern wizarding world [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1030466
Comments: 31
Kudos: 61





	1. prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please let me know any thoughts you have on this first chapter- reviews really help the creative process! Also if there are any grammatical errors let me know as I didn’t proofread too specifically!
> 
> This prologue is really just an introduction of our main characters and a set up of the story so far. Enjoy!

The immediate aftermath of the war was a terrifyingly horrific mess. No witch or wizard really dared to hope it was over. Few left in Britain had been alive long enough to have lived through anything similar, and those who had, well there wasn’t a witch or wizard alive in a position to make suggestions as to how the ministry should have proceeded. The DMLE was under more pressure than it had ever experienced, Death Eater after Death Eater was hunted down, dragged into custody, and then thrown into Askaban to be forgotten. Muggleborns still feared for their lives, and their children’s lives, and chose to leave Britain by the hundreds- the war may have ended, but the prejudices which had allowed for a war in the first place, still remained. Minister Bagnold retired an early retirement after having to be the face of an organization that had been so easily breached by He Who Must Not Be Named and his allies and had then so clumsily deadly with the aftermath.

It had taken years and years for any sense of normalcy to return to British Wizarding Society, and once it had, well many realised that not much had really changed from pre-war times, other than the very diminished population size. Yet, so few wizards were willing to stand and demand change. No one wanted to be the villain who disrupted peacetime. 

Eventually though, some could stand it no longer. Some decided the powers in charge of the wizarding world had had their chance, decided that their days were numbered if change didn’t occur, and decided to take matters into their own hands. And this is where our story starts. 

~~~~

Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore were kindred spirits and had been since they’d met all those years ago. Both old souls and old friends, they’d reached many milestones of life within their friendship. Both had become masters of their passions- her transfiguration and him alchemy, both had achieved impossible dreams- her becoming Head of Gryffindor and him Headmaster of Hogwarts, and both had lived very different lives from the ones they’d imagined for themselves as children- her, having had to live without Robert, the love of her life who’d died many, many, many years ago from dragon pox, and him, having become so alienated from telling the truth, from relying on others, that though Minerva was his closest friend, even she had no idea what truly went on in his mind. 

Their friendship had overcome so much over the years- grief and loss, time and distance, there truly wasn’t much that they hadn’t experienced together. And yet as time moved on after the war, a coldness grew between the pair. As Minerva threw herself into rebuilding wizarding society, into reworking the way that inner house loyalties within Hogwarts worked, into setting up sponsorship after sponsorship of muggleborns, so that as soon as they showed signs of magical ability they were introduced to a magical family who could teach the child and their family about the magical world, Albus disappeared more and more often, spent less and less time confiding in his staff and friends, and grew more and more untouchable, grew more and more distant from the average wizard.

Six years on from the war and Minerva McGonagall was not prepared to put up with his behavior for much longer. The war could never be allowed to become the first of many, the circumstances which had allowed a war to happen could never be allowed to repeat themselves, she had worked too hard in the years since the end of the war, she had seen too many students lost, seen too many haunted faces and too much death to allow a war to ever happen again. Not in her lifetime. And Albus refused to see how much good she was doing, refused to see how inter-house relationships had changed for the better, how Slytherin students were beginning to make friends with others outside of their own house. He didn’t see the point in her actions, thought her attempts at union were unnecessary, and even went so far as to suggest there was a reason that Slytherin House had its reputation. 

Four years in from the war and Minerva McGonagall was tired of Albus. She couldn’t remember the last time the pair had sat together and talked as friends, let alone the last time Albus had truly explained any of his actions as Headmaster, as her employer. And she was sick to death of it. No one was untouchable, no one should be allowed to be. Especially not Albus, not if he didn’t even care about his students, didn’t even care about listening or talking to his staff. Six years on from the war and Minerva McGonagall decided that if just one more thing happened, she was prepared to take her old friend down. And she had absolutely no regrets about it. 

~~~

Narcissa Elara Malfoy,  nee Black, was taught to be perfect. And so she was. The perfect daughter, the perfect student, the perfect wife.

As a child Narcissa, made sure to be seen but not heard, made sure she displayed her magic when her parents wanted her to, made sure she charmed whoever her parents needed her to. She listened to their every instruction. When Narcissa grew older and went to school, she made sure to always make the right connections, made sure she always had excellent grades, and only ever interacted with pupils from families her parents would approve of. Eventually, she married the wizard her parents had decided would be the perfect match.

However, none of this meant that did not have a mind of her own. Oh no. Narcissa Black Malfoy was the perfect Slytherin; she was wickedly intelligent with more cunning than Salazar Slytherin himself and knew exactly how to use her wits to outmanoeuvre any witch or wizard who ever approached her. Even the Dark Lord. So yes, Narcissa was quiet, yes, Narcissa was thought as nothing special. And yes, she did everything she was told to. But no, she did not believe in pure blood prejudices. No, she did not believe in the Dark Lord’s war. No, she did not want to be a part of it. 

And so Narcissa Black had used her torturous childhood training, wrapped layer and layer of beauty, and grace, and silence, and perfection around and around her head, until her mind was an impenetrable fortress, so well protected that not only could she fool Albus Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards who ever lived, but also Lord Voldemort, the most dark wizard to have ever existed. And thus she was spared from taking the Dark Lords mark because she was a woman with seemingly nothing special about her, spared because he didn’t bother to see Narcissa as anything than a feeble creature suitable for marriage to one of his followers. 

Six years on from the war, and Narcissa Black lived the life she wanted. Spared from the insanity one sister faced, and the abandonment another did, Narcissa had quietly moved her family overseas, back to Lucius’ roots. The parisian lifestyle suited Narcissa- finery, luxury, and an escape from the horrors of her childhood. The various Malfoy business thrived now Lucius did not spend his time plotting horrific attacks on behalf of a madman, and in France, the Malfoys were admired, respected, and at the height of society. Draco had true friends, adored his father, and wanted nothing more than to learn and smile and laugh. 

Yes, six years after the war, and leaving Britain had been the best decision Narcissa had ever made. She had everything she wanted from life; perfection certainly had its benefits after all. If only she could find a solution for her final problem. 

~~~

Remus Lupin was a very different wizard than he had been, six years on from the war. Almost unrecognisable, you might say, from the boy he had been when he’d attended Hogwarts. The life he had made for himself in Bulgria was almost, almost worth every bit of pain which had drove him from Britain in the first place. 

After the war Remus had had absolutely nothing left, his friends were all either dead or worse, and  Sirius was responsible. The people he’d cared about more than anyone else in the world were dead, and he wasn’t even any use to Albus anymore. So he’d visited Godric’s Hollow, too much of a coward to go to the graves of his best friend and their son, and instead said his goodbyes and his apologies to their exploded ruin of a cottage before turning his back on his former life, and on Britain itself. Taking the next ferry to France, then spending weeks and weeks wandering with no real purpose, in a constant state of mindlessness and depression, he’d found himself in Bulgaria. Bulgaria had been his saving grace. 

Andrei Balan had been the first person Remus had actually spoken to in more than a few words for longer than Remus could really remember. Upon meeting him in a dismal, rundown dive of a pub, Remus had spent that last of the money he’d hand buying drink after drink and unloading his sorrows onto the stranger. The morning after Remus had awoken on a sofa in a small cottage by the forest with Andrei grinning down at him. Andrei, it turned out was also a werewolf and had known who Remus was the moment he’d set eyes on him. Andrew offered him a place in the pack and having nothing else in the world, Remus had accepted. 

Pack life suited Remus. Remus had found companionship with others like himself, for the first time in his life, as well as an acceptance of his wolf self which allowed wolf and wizard to coexist in his mind like they never had before, and finally, if not happiness, then relief from the memories and pain of his past which plagued him constantly. Not only had Bulgaria given him all this, but Andrei and the wolves in his pack had given Remus a sense of self-worth that Remus had truly never felt in his lifetime, despite constant reassurance of his friends from his old life. So yes, despite the pain, despite the fact that Remus had never forgotten or really, gotten over the deaths of his friends, Remus was different, different in the way he carried himself, in the way he was unafraid to voice his opinions and speak up when he thought something wasn’t right. 

Six years on from the war, and Remus Lupin was moving forward. For the first time in his life, he had a steady job with a good income, in a prestigious European school, with employers who didn’t care about him being a werewolf, and even went so far as to provide him with wolfsbane free of charge. In his spare time, he further fulfilled his dream of teaching, tutoring young wolves who weren’t yet in control enough to attend a school. Six years on from the war, and Remus Lupin was a respected member of the community, a wizard whose input had value, and despite never having found friends as James and Lily had been, Remus was making his way towards happiness. 

~~~

Sirius Black was not the man he used to be. Not really. Askaban changed a man irreversibly. 

Six years on from the war and Sirius Black was unrecognizable. Gone was the young wizard who’d placed all his trust and hope in Albus Dumbledore. Albus had given up on him, abandoned him. Albus had never seen past his last name and Sirius had wasted away for over two years in Askaban as a result. But that hardly mattered now. Sirius had turned his back in Britain. Tiny cheeky Harri was gone. Brilliant James was gone. Sweet, fiery Lily was gone. Frank and Alice were worse than gone. Even Remus had abandoned Britain.

Remus. The thought of Sirius’ former best friend and other half of his soul had once made his head spin and left a bitter taste in his mouth. After his release from Askaban, over two years after his incarceration once the ministry had released their mistake, Sirius had been set on hunting down Remus. And then he’d realised that Remus had never once tried to visit Sirius, had never once doubted Sirius’ guilt enough to find out the truth. And Sirius didn’t even didn’t blame him, not really. But the love he’d felt for the wizard had been replaced with heartbreak. And shame. He had never been enough for Remus, never been enough to have made the ministry to think twice before abandoning him to Askaban, never been enough for anyone but James and Lily, and his tiny godson who’d he’d loved more than anything. And they were gone. 

With no one left for him in Britain and no purpose at all, Sirius decided he’d make it his mission to never allow another person to be tossed away as he’d been. He’d retreated to France, to a manor once owned by his Uncle Alphard, disappearing from public life, and he’d written a plan of attack. A plan that started with rooting out the corruption within the ministry back home, and ended with political strength, a stable society, and most importantly of all, the safety of all children born into homes as terrible as the one he’d been born into. 

Six years on from the war and Sirius Black was a changed man. A formidable wizard and ruthless politician, Sirius had restored his ancient house to the glory and power it had once held, many years ago. Though he still lived in France, rumor was carried to Britain of what had become of Sirius Black, last of the Black family. Six years on from the war and the Black dynasty had been well and truly revived. Merlin bless anyone who dared come against Lord Black or his mate. Even Merlin himself, however, would not be able to protect those who came for their children. 

Six years on from the war and the key players in the game were a world away from the versions of themselves they could've been, had they made different decisions after the war. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wnted to do more with this chapter but I couldn’t without setting up more aspects of the story, please let me know if you enjoy! 
> 
> reviews and kudos are so so appreciated, please leave them if you like what you read ❤️

_** Wizarding Wireless update; June 15th, 1985 ** _

The low melodic sound of the music drifting through the room was suddenly replaced by a static cracking and then a loud, excitable voice. _“_ _Sorry to interrupt the lovely music of the Nargles folks, but I’ve got some absolutely astounding breaking news for you! Great Merlin I cant even believe I’m going to say this, but witches and wizards of Great Britain an investigation that’s been ongoing for the past two years has just led to the issue of an arrant warrant for, Albus Dumbledore, leader of the light, Chief Warlock of the Wizangamot and Headmaster of Hogwarts school. Dumbledore has been accused of gross misconduct in his position as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and as Chief Warlock, of kidnapping of a minor, and of intentional obstruction of justice. If convicted, Dumbledore will face a lifetime in Askaban and potentially even the Kiss. Would you have ever believed it? At the moment there’s only rumour as to the minor that Dumbledore is suspected of kidnapping, but one thing I do know, is that whatever the public story of what ended the war almost four years ago, is unlikely to be the truth. Dumbledore has been thoroughly investigated and Alastair Moody, an old friend of Dumbledore, and Head of the Auror Department, is quoted to have said, “Much of the details will become public during the trial that will be held in the upcoming weeks, but for now, the most foul of play has occurred, and whatever the truth is , we will discover what happened.” Well folks, what an evening for us all. We’ll be keeping everyone updated here in the wireless, but keep your eyes and ears peeledfor more information that is sure to be made public soon enough! Expect an update as soon as we know more, but for now, back the the Nargles and their latest track ...”_

All across the world, there were gasps, shouts and exclaims of shock, surprise, and disbelief. Albus Dumbledore was revered worldwide for both his pure magical skill, and his political influence. In house after hotel, pub after restaurant, witches and wizards looked around at one another in utter astonishment. Nothing would ever be the same. 

~~~~

In the South of France, in an idyllic old chateaux, the two wizards who had inhabited the place for the last two years, were blissfully unaware of the goings on in Britain. Mostly because since the arrival of their twins, just over a year ago, the wizards hadn’t really thought of much outside of their own happiness. Upstairs Remus Lupin leant against the door of a bedroom in which two cots laid beside each other. He watched as his very best friend in the whole world, and the man who held his heart, sat on an armchair, a one year old in each arm, and told stories of Arthur and Merlin, of Gwenivere and Morgana. Remus’ heart melted at the happiness in Sirius eyes, at the smiling faces of Aries and Elara Lupin-Black. 

Remus still couldn’t believe this was his life, couldn’t believe how after the spectacularly catastrophic argument they’d had when Remus had finally plucked up the courage to write to Sirius, for the first time since the end of the war, they’d managed to rebuild their friendship. Because to Remus, more important than anything, was that there was trust in their relationship, tat there was laughter and friendship. Love came after that. Love only survived if there was that.

They’d rebuilt their friendship slowly, exchange letters over months, then going on tentative dates, filled with nerves and excitement, then one day, Sirius had dropped a key to this place, the chateaux his uncle Alphard had left him, through Remus’ front door. In  Romania . After that everything was perfect, and eventually they’d decided to have Elara and Aries. Well they’d only be intending on having one of them- their surrogate had laughed herself out of breath, when she’d told Remus and Sirius that they were in fact having twins. 

But the twins had been a blessing in disguise, and Remus couldn’t imagine living any other life. He was happy and so was Sirius. He spent half his days teaching still in Romania, and the other half with his babies, just as Sirius spent half his days politicking and bossing people about from his study, and the other half playing with the children, taking them to see their older cousin Draco, or their very big cousin Dora. Yes, life was perfect. They were moving forward, living good lives, and they were happy.

The domestic haven they’d lived in however, had to come to an end soon. But neither Sirius nor Remus realised just how drastically their lives were about to change when they got their first visitor of the morning. 

~~~

It was late afternoon now, the sun low in the sky and a gentle breeze flit through the curtains. Narcissa and Lucius sat across from Sirius and Remus, the twins were sleeping upstairs and Draco had been left in the care of one of Narcissa’s friends. Sirius privately thought she was trying to set up an arranged marriage with the Madame’s daughter. 

Narcissa cleared her throat, and swallowed, “I know you’ve both read the newspaper now, but neither of you will have heard the wireless announcement last night. Whilst it mostly covered the same things, the wireless included one detail that the papers over here at lasts haven’t announced. According to the announcement the final charge against Albus is the kidnapping of a minor.”

Remus inhaled sharply and a look of school appeared in Sirius ’ face, which if the situation was any different, would have been hilarious. Remus was the first to speak up, “Surely he wouldn’t. Surely that doesn’t fit with his greater good agenda, I mean how can it?”

Narcissa’s eyes blazed with an intense anger and held a hand over her tiny baby bump, “It seems even children are not free from his great plans.”

Lucius looked torn, his face was creased and he shook his head once before speaking, “The reason Narcissa and I wanted to speak with you both is because we believe we knew who the child is. There was a prophecy revealed to the Dark Lord, for now I can’t remember all of it world for world, but in essence it said a child born as the seventh month dies will have a power the dark lord knows not, a power to destroy the dark lord and it also said something like neither can live whilst the other survives.”

Sirius and Remus gaped, they could do nothing more, the words just wouldn’t come. But they were both thinking the same thing, Lily and James must have known, even in part, that’s reason they went into hiding. And such a burden to bear, just between the two of them. And little Harry, mini-prongs, he was just a baby, surely there was nothing he could have done to destroy a Dark Lord. 

Narcissa interrupted, “Sirius, Remus, we are almost certain the kidnapped child was Harry, your godson. We think he’s alive. It is the only thing that makes sense. Think about it. Dumbledore arrives at the Potters before you do, Sirius, realises Harry is alive and the Dark Lord is gone, he takes the boy, maybe because he’s powerful, maybe for some reason we don’t know of, but then decided to pretend Harry is dead,. And how to get away with that? Well, there’s only one spell that can be used to disguise one body as another well enough to fool blood identification spells, and its dark, as dark as you can get. So that explain his gross misconduct as Chief Mugwump as well as the kidnapping of a minor, but where is the obstruction of justice? Well that would be not telling the truth that the boy had lived and placing him somewhere that wasn’t with his legal guardian.”

Sirius and Remus’ minds were compete whirlwinds. Both gaped, utterly speechless. Sirius jumped up and then sat back down again. “Surely you don’t mean, surely it’s not possible that he’s still alive.” Hope unfurled in his chest. 

Lucius’ voice was hard, “I never believed the Dark Lord was gone, there was no body and my mark never truly faded. The only thing that makes sense is that something else happened. And we wouldn’t have suggested this if we didn’t truly believe it was true. The loss of a child is pain unlike anything else.”

And it was true, and Narcissa and Lucius would know. The second child they’d had, or would’ve had, had been miscarried when Narcissa was caught in the crossfire of resurgent Death Eater activity at the end of the first war. The pain was enough to allow Lucius to break free of the modified imperious enchantment his father had cast on him when he was 17. And despite whatever he’d believed as a child, turned him from the ranks of the Death Eaters forever. Lucius Malfoy had been a very different man for the last 4 years. He was trustworthy. Honest. 

Sirius and Remus shared a look, a look that contained so many emotions and carried a thousand words. They’d faced so much and come through it all by sticking together. Harry was theirs, a mini marauder, and if it was true, if he was out there, they needed to find him, and they needed to do it before anyone else realised he was alive. 

Steely determination swept through both wizards, and Narcissa noted the change in them with pride. Looking at his cousin and her husband, Sirius said, “So, what do we do now?”

Narcissa smiled grimly, “I think it is time the Ancient House of Black reclaimed it’s standing in Britain. It is time we had a new Head of House, time you reclaimed you role as Heir. I know it’s not your way, Sirius, but you’ve done so well in France. Now it’s time be the formidable face of the house, to use every bit of wealth and influence, and power and fear, to get what we want, to save Harry from Dumbledore, his plans and his greater good. It is time that you Remus, reclaimed your role as head of the werewolf packs of Britain, it is time to overthrow Greyback, to use your natural leadership and levelheadedness, time you used the alliances you’ve built in Romania.”

Remus and Sirius shared another long look, before a wicked smile crossed Sirius’ face, “I despised my parents my whole life, especially my mother. I never wanted to be Heir, but if Harry needs me to be then my God, I’ll burn everything she stood for to the ground.” 

Narcissa, Lucius and Remus’ feral answering grins would have sent chills down the backs of any spectators. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy this one, we’re getting into the story a bit more now and I’m excited to write more! 
> 
> Please let me know if you like this chapter- I love, love reading your comments and reviews!!

**_16th June 1985_ **

Sirius sat curled on Remus’ lap, it was evening and the pair had just the twins to sleep. Aries and Elara Lupin-Black seemed to have realised that something was going on, despite only being 2, and had been more subdued than they normally were.Remus was tracing patterns on Sirius’ arms, his shoulder a pillow for the other mans head. He spoke softly, “You know Padfoot, I always told you that you could do anything you wanted to. I believe in you Sirius Black. Always have, always will.”

Sirius grumbled something under his breath, but smiled when he felt Remus laugh softly. Remus murmured into Sirius head, smiling still, “You won’t turn into one of them Padfoot, you’re too good in your heart. You could take the place your Grandfather always wanted you to, but turn the whole house around. I’d be there, always. Think of Aries and Elara, do we really want them to miss out on Hogwarts, all because we don’t want to move back to Britain. And think of Harry, it’ll be so much easier to get him back from wherever Dumbledores stashed him, if you’re a lord. Besides, I always though lords were rather sexy.”

Sirius grumbled under his breath again, but Remus could feel the small laugh that escaped him. But he lifted his head up from where it had been buried in Remus’ shoulder and looked into his best friends eyes. His voice was barely a whisper as he said, “Moony, do you really believe that it will all be okay? Do you promise me that you’ll never let me turn into one of them?”

Remus put a hand on Sirius’ chin, pulling the man down so he could kiss his forehead, “I swear on our children’s lives Sirius Black, you’ll never turn into one of them. No matter what faces we present to the outside world, I know you and you know me and as long as we’re together everything is always okay.”

Sirius smiled a smile so tender it sent a rush of emotion straight to Remus’ heart, “Then I think it’s time I became Lord Black, and we figured out our plan for Britain.

~~~

_**19th June 1985** _

The office of De Facto Leglislation hadn’t been as busy as it had been in the last 3 days, for a long, long time. Taking on a new client was never simple, but when your client was head of an Ancient and Noble House, there was always much, much more work than expected. Located in Diagon Alley, the solicitors building was much larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. From the outside the office seemed like a typical legal building with the words ‘De Facto Legislation’ and the names of the partners who owned the business written on a sign above the door. Inside however, the building covered 3 floors and had more than 20 rooms. There were libraries of muggle and magical legal textbooks, of manuscripts of legislation written both hundreds of years ago, and the more modern versions, there were meeting rooms, and research rooms, a large conference room, and even a magic-proofed basement which contained a telephone and a very large computer. 

Douglas Mercier and Serena Nott had been partners in business for 25 years, catering to mostly light and some neutral families. They’d set up De Facto legislation after studying magical law and legislation and then by completing a degree in the muggle world. Both were excellent solicitors, and both knew how to be discreet- this was one of the key reasons that Sirius had chosen them to represent the new House of Black. The Mercier family had known Charles and Dorea Potter, and so Douglas had jumped at the chance of representing Sirius Black. He’d known Dorea, and though it was his mother who’d been good friends with her, he felt as though he was honouring both late witches by representing Dorea’s chosen son.

Douglas had set up a meeting with the Minister of Magic on behalf of Lord Black, who’d wanted Britain to be ready for him when he returned home. Fudge was newly instated but despite his inexperience, he was a political shark and would need to be navigated wisely if Douglas were to be get what his client wanted. With one last look to make sure he had all the necessary files, he stepped through the floo and arrived in the Ministers reception. 

A witch dressed head to toe in a distasteful shade of pink, greeted him as he stepped from the fireplace. “Hello there, Dolores Umbridge, Undersecretary to the Minister, can I take your name?”

Douglas nodded at the witch in greeting and introduced himself. After a few moments of waiting, Umbridge motioned him toward the room to her left. He took one calming breath and then entered the office. 

As he opened the door the Ministers voice rang out, “Ah Mr Mericer come in, come in, I’ve been so looking forward to this meeting! It’s such a surprise to be notified of a new Lord Black, even more so that he had chose De Facto Legislation to represent his House.” 

Douglas smiled politely at the wizard in front of him, political life suited Fudge. The man was lazy and liked to reply on others to do his work for him, but despite his unassuming appearance- he was a rather portly man who was just about average height, with rumpled grey hair, and was usually dressed in a pinstriped suit and an outrageously coloured tie, Fudge could be incredibly sneaky, and was able to think very quickly on the spot. 

Shaking the Ministers hand, Douglas grinned, “You might not be saying that when I finish Minister. And please, call me Douglas. I think it’s best if we get to it straight away. I’ve a lot to inform you of, and I’m sure you’re an extremely busy wizard.”

At the Ministers eager nod of approval, Douglas asked if it was acceptable for him to cast some privacy charms to ensure their conversation could not be heard by any eager ears- he didn’t trust the Ministers undersecretary, her eyes were too hard despite her constant unnerving smile. Also, his new client had specifically requested the charms, so it was a good thing the Minister was so interested to know what was going on that he agreed to their casting.

Clearing his throat, “First things first, my client, the newly recognised Head of the Moste Ancient and Noble House of Black has given me a letter he’d be honoured if you’d read.”

He gestured to the note Sirius had given him, and Fudge took it eagerly.

_ Dear Minister Fudge,  _

_ I wanted to write to you personally, to thank you both for agreeing to see my lawyer so quickly, also also for all o your work in behalf of the Black family over the last few years- I can only your imagine your shock at the previous administrations mistakes in regard to Sirius Blacks undeserving incarceration. It is an honour to know I will be working with such an efficient and proactive Minister- at least I have very high hopes that we will be able to have a close working-relationship in the future.  _

_ For now, I ask on behalf of my Moste Ancient and Noble House that you turn your attention to a matter of extreme sensitivity. Upon accepting my positionas Head of House, I did some research into the current situation you have with Albus Dumbledore. I, and some of my advisors, have serious cause to believe he was involved in the events in Godric’s Hollow on All Hallows’ Eve in ‘81, and believe that Harry Potter may have lived, and not died as we have been led to believe. This issue is a direct cause of injury for my house, as on the occasion anything should happen to Lily and James Potter, Sirius Black, and therefore the House of Black, were to be responsible for upbringing their son. If it is true that Harry is alive, the House of Black wishes to make all preparations to take charge of their ward. And Minister, if he is indeed alive, there would be a most public show of support for those that aided my House. I am certain you agree there is no worse crime to a family, than the theft of one of its children. _

_ I know there will be restrictions on what information can be made public, but I have no doubt Minister, that your aide will be invaluable to the House of Black, and I look forward to our formal introduction. _

_ Most sincerely,  _

_ Lord Black _

Fudge dropped the letter on his desk, and blew out a sigh. “I’ve been in this job for 13 months and already I’ve dealt with more madness than I ever thought I would in my entire career. First the mess with the foreign alliances that had been left to rot in the war, then having to launch an investigation into Albus bloody Dumbledore  of all people, which then then lead to an arrest warrant, and now a magical child, a famous, country renowned child, may not only be alive, but also may have been taken from one of the most powerful Houses in history.”

Douglas’ expression was nothing but sympathy and his voice was soothing, “And yet, you’ve handled everything so well. You’ve found solutions, or begun to work toward solutions for all of the downfalls of your predecessor.”

Douglas hid his smirk as he saw the thoughts ticking over in Fudge’s head. Fudge nodded as he stroked his chin, “Yes, well ... I have been working overtime for as long as I can remember. And really, I can’t be blamed for mistakes of the ministry when I wasn’t the one leading it. And if what Lord Black says is true, and I do nothing, what kind of minister does that make me.”

Nodding politely as the Minister considered the letter and considered his options, Douglas waited for him to come to the conclusion they both knew he would. They both knew Fudge couldn’t risk turning his back on the problem, not now that Sirius had gotten him so directly involved. A smoothness settled over Fudge’s face, “I can see why, this new Head of House wanted to set up a meeting with me so urgently. If what he believes is true, a great injustice has been done. And he is right to mention the public, there’s nothing more interesting than a scandal, so involving the press to our own ends could shift blame on behalf of the ministry.”

Fudge nodded to himself, “I’ve a few immediate ideas concerning this particular problem, but we can come to that in a moment. For now, are there any of the other concerns the new Lord Black wishes to present to me?”

Douglas rattled off a few other point Sirius had wanted to raise, mainly things like removing the current Black Wizangamot seat representative, as well as a press release stating a new Lord Black was coming to England, and some positive mention of the Minister. Fudge agreed to all of the point Douglas had raised- Sirius had only asked for things he knew Fudge would agree to, a strategic move on his behalf. 

~~~

It was twilight in the Scottish highands. The sun was setting and the skyline was a myriad of purples, pinks, and blues, illuminating the cosy sitting room in Minerva McGonagalls quarters at Hogwarts. Despite the hour, despite the fact that it was indeed the summer holidays, Minerva found herself working. 

In front of her, on a low mahogany table were three paper trays and beside her on the arm of the plush red sofa was a stack of papers, each of which contained the details of a child who had displayed magical abilities. Minerva job was to sort each child into one of the trays. One tray represented children who were at risk in their homes, muggleborn or with magical parents. Another was for children whose parents wanted help with their child’s education pre-Hogwarts, whether this was through a sponsorship, or by providing the parents with a list of resources. The final was for magical children who either needed no intervention before Hogwarts, or who had already received the necessary help required. 

On an ordinary day, Minerva found the work soothing and didn’t mind if it took her longer to do. Tonight however, she couldn’t focus. Too bust trying to be busy, too busting trying not think how much her life had changed overnight. Well 3 nights ago.

Minerva tried not to have a moment to herself, have a moment in which her mind would immediately turn to Albus. The thought of him made Minerva’s head spin, and make her throat close up. She couldn’t decide whether to be furious with him, to hate him for the mistakes he’d made, or to feel sorry for him, to worry about what had gone so wrong in their friendship that he hadn’t been able to confide in her, hadn’t been able to explain any of his actions to her for the past 5 years. 

Unwittingly, Minerva’s thoughts turned to a few days before, when she’d been sittingher study with Setima Vector, after a staff meeting for the upcoming OWL students. 

_ Septima shook her head in amusement at the nonchalant expression on Minnervas face. The two witches had been fast friends when Septima had joined the Hogwarts staff the year before and often had a catch-up during the summer holidays, where they drank a glass or two of wine and reminisced over their time pre-teaching. The wizarding wireless was almost always on in the holidays when the friends weren’t in professor mode, and didn’t need to worry about students entering their studies at a moments notice. Minerva had just finished telling Septima about how one time, when she’d gone to visit a muggle family to tell them about magic, she’d turned their cat pink and when she’d tried to turn it back it promptly ran away and had had to track it down before continuing her explanation of Hogwarts. Both witches were still giggling as the wrireless all of a sudden when silent, static and then an excited trilling voice poured though the speaker.  _

_ Septima and Minerva has shared identical looks of horror as the wireless announcer explained that a DMLE investigation that had been ongoing for two years had led to an arrest warrant for ALBUS DUMBLDORE on account of gross misconduct, obstruction of justice, and worse of all the kidnapping of a minor. _

_ Neither witch had believed their ears. Albus had been both their employers, and despite his often absences, had always advocated the importance of honesty and doing what was right, to the students and his staff. Neither witch had laughed again that evening. _

Minerva shook off the memory. She had too much to do, to spend her time worrying about Albus. He hadn’t even reappeared in Britain since the arrest warrant. And besides, she’d offered more times than she could remember to share some of the burdens that made his eyes so sad sometimes, and he’d never taken her up on it. No, Albus would have to go through this trial alone, just like he’d wanted to be. Especially since she’d had to pick up his duties. The Hogwarts Board of Governers had asked her to fill the position of Acting Headmaster for the duration of Albus’ trial. Thankfully she had already had to pick up many of Albus’ duties over the years and so wasn’t too overwhelmed by the additional workload. But she did find herself wondering more and more if she should start looking for a new transfiguration professor. She already needed a new Head of Gryffindor, and there was a slim chance of finding atransfiguration professor, who was also a Gryffindor, let alone one exemplary enough to lead the her house. Though she knew she needed to start looking.


	4. Four

Remus and Sirius’ original to-do list, was in fact longer than it had been when they’d first made it after their visit from Narcissa and Lucius a few days ago. So far they’d crossed off 3 things in total;

  1. Complete the inheritance ritual
  2. Employ a family lawyer
  3. Meet with Fudge to start custody preparations for Harry



However, they had yet to cross of the other 5 things they’d originally written which were;

  * Clean up Grimmauld place
  * Actually meet the lawyer they’d employed 
  * Start building alliances with other Houses
  * Discover Harry’s whereabouts
  * Announce their return in Britain 



Sirius and Remus were still not entirely sure of the order in which everything needed to be completed. On the one hand, despite their desperation to see Harry, to know for sure he really was alive, they had enough trust in Albus to believe that though he used everyone he met like chess pieces, he would never place Harry in danger- there must’ve have been a reason Albus had kept the fact that Harry was alive secret, and despite his failings over the years Remus and Sirius refused to believe that Albus would leave an innocent child in harms way. On the other hand, Albus had proven time and time again that he didn’t tell the whole truth to the people around him, and until Harry was in their sights, neither Sirius nor Remus would be ready to accept whatever madness had persuaded Albus to pretend a child was  dead. 

Remus sighed wearily at the list the things he and Sirius still had to do. The maurader in him wanted to jump straight past the bureaucracy and procedure and skip straight to stealing Harry back from under Albus’ nose. It was the reason he’d woken up so early this morning. Unfortunately he knew they couldn’t do that. Even if he’d known how. And there were many reasons, other than the obvious fact that they had absolutely no idea where Albus would’ve put Harry. One of which, was that Remus had yet to decide what he was going to do about his teaching position in Romania. The thought of leaving all of his students behind, of leaving teaching behind altogether was really not a welcome one, but Remus couldn’t ignore the near constant urge to run all the way back to Britain and start tearing the country apart in search of Harry. Ever since he’d realised there was a chance Harry might be alive his inner wolf had yearned for the missing member of its pack, and the more days passed, the worse the sensation was. 

On top of that, if Sirius was to assume his Lordship role properly- and Remus was insistent that he did, then Sirius would be swamped with all sorts of work. And neither Remus nor Sirius wanted to make the move back to Britain even more unsettling for Aries and Elara by having both of their parents gone all the time. Plus, the fact that the twins grew both physically and mentally at a faster rate than the average child due to their werewolf blood, meant that Remus and Sirius wanted to spend as much time as humanely possible with their children anyway.

He had time to figure that out though. First and foremost, they needed to get Harry back. And currently they had no idea how, their only option was to rely on Albus to be forced to give up the information during his trial. Remus stared absentmindedly out of the window of the kitchen as thoughts drifted to memories of Harry, the mini marauder he’d loved so much. Memories of Harry gurgling in his crib, of him sleeping peacefully in James’ arms, Lily looking at the pair in complete and utter adoration, of Sirius running around the gardens of the Potter Manor, because Lily was trying to hit him for teaching Harry swear words and of Dorea’s house-elf checking up on James and Lily every once in a while, taking over the cooking for a night, despite Lily’s adamance that she really, really didn’t want the elf tiring herself out for the young couple, filled his mind . 

Remus stood stock still, shock ricocheting through him- the house-elf! Sirius and Remus had been stuck for days thinking of how they could track down Harry, especially after Douglas had said even Fudge hadn’t been sure how to track down a missing person with magic. But Dorea Potter, James’ mother, had once been a Black, and her house elf had been with her since she’d been a child. So if they could find another Black house elf, the horrible one that Sirius had grown up with and was now the master of, for example, then they could track Dorea’s house elf, who would then be able to find Harry! House elves were tied to their families, serving them until the entire family line died out. Remus’ heart was beating a million times a minute and his thoughts were racing. If Kreacher could find Dorea’s elf, it meant Harry was alive, and not only that, it meant Harry could be found too!

Barely containing his excitement, Remus bounded out of the room, and up the stairs to the room he shared with Sirius. The room in which Sirius was sprawled across their bed, drooling and fast asleep because it was barely 6 in the morning. Remus didn’t care.

Rocking Sirius gently at first, and the practically shaking the wizard awake Remus hissed, “Padfoot, Padfoot you have to wake up. I think I know how to find Harry.”

Sirius’ eyes snapped open, “You think WHAT?!” 

Stumbling over his words, knees tapping up and down, adrenaline rushing through him, Remus explained how he’d been taking a trip down memory lane, and how he’d remembered Dorea’s house-elf checking up on James and Lily in their cottage at Godric’s Hollow every so often. Sirius had interjected, saying her name was Missy, and a wave of recognition had swept through Remus. Continuing with his epiphany, Remus explained how he’d remembered Dorea saying unless James had children, her elf would have to return to serving the Black family, because elves served their families until the line died out. Sirius had understood immediately what Remus was which was suggesting, which is why 5 minutes later, Kreacher stood in front of them grumbling under his breath about half-breeds and blood traitors and terrible terrible disappointments. 

Despite his urgency, Remus stared in disbelief at the elf. He was just as miserable and unpleasant as Sirius had described. Sirius however was tense and businesslike, he glared at Kreacher, demanding that the elf stop with his derogatory language. Just as he was about to order the elf to find Missy, Dorea’s elf, Elara burst into the room. Her eyes were a luminous amber and her long black hair, normally sleek, was swished about her shoulders. 

Remus and Sirius shared a confused glance before turning back to their daughter, who was panting slightly, and who’s checks were flushed as if she’d ran all the way across the hall from her bedroom to her parents room. Taking a deep breath, Elara turned to look at Kreacher, who was looking at Elara as if he was seeing someone else, “Uncle Regulus told me to tell you to be nice to Daddy and Papa. He says that Daddy is going to make the House of Black important again and that you need to help him, that Walpurga is mean and terrible and you shouldn’t listen to her.”

She crossed her arms defiantly, staring at the elf. Kreacher started at the little girl in front of him in shock. And then promptly burst into tears.

Remus and Sirius stared at each other eyes, identical looks of horror in their eyes. Sirius very rarely spoke of his brother and Remus couldn’t ever recall him mentioning his mother, let alone her name. Bending down to her level, Remus placed a finger underneath her chin and gently said, “Elara, my love , what did you mean by that? How did Regulus tell you these things?”

Elara opened her mouth to answer, but stricken, Sirius answered for her, ‘ And you shall know the truth before it has occurred, as the moon of Jupiter tells you so ’

Elara giggled, “No silly daddy, Uncle Regulus told me himself. I was sleeping and he was in my dreams.” 

Completely and utterly confused, Remus stared as several things happened. Firstly, Kreacher dropped to his knees at Sirius’ feet, clasping his hands and begging to be allowed to serve him instead of his Mistress, begin gto he allowed to do as Regulus wished . Secondly, Aries popped into the room, looking just as confused at the scene in front of him as Remus was. Thirdly, Sirius snapped himself from his stupor and cast a patronus charm sending it to Pandora Lovegood. And finally, Elara huffed and stomped her feet, and demanded that Kreacher stopped making such an awful racket. 

“RIGHT!” Remus shouted over all the noise. He pinched his nose and rose to his feet, before continuing, “Everyone in this room is going to calm down. Were going to wrap up, get socks on our feet and go to the kitchen. They as a family, explain what’s going on s9 everyone understands.

Aries huffed, “I didn’t do anything Papa.”

~|~

Minutes later, and the entire family were wrapped in blankets and sitting around the kitchen table, each holding either a mug of warm milk (the twins), or a steaming mug/jug of coffee (Remus and Sirius). Kreacher stood still in the corner of the room. 

Remus turned to the children sitting opposite him, “You know how me and Daddy have decided that it’s time to move to England, where we both grew up when we were children?

The children nodded and he continued, “Well there are two reasons we decided to do that. The first one is because Daddy has decided to take up the position of Head of the House of Black. This means he has access to special magic that can protect all of us as Blacks, and it means Daddy can be involved in making the laws in England. This is important for the other reason we’re moving back. Your cousin Harry, might actually be alive and if he is, we need to be in England to make sure we can look after him. This morning we realised we could figure out if Harry is alive, by getting his Grandmothers elf, Missy, to find him. But we need Kreacher, Daddy’s childhood home elf, to find Missy.”

Sirius then took over, “The reason I was so surprised when you mentioned Regulus speaking to you Elara, is because a long, long time ago, I met a strange witch. Who told me about a vision she’d had about my future. But visions are like dreams so I didn’t think much on what she’d said. But what she told me makes sense now. Elara, your name is the same as one of Jupiter’s moons, a constellation name, like all the Black have had. And it seems, Elara Angel, that you might be something of a seer. Someone who can tell the future, and pass on messages from those who’ve passed.”

For once, Aries was speechless. Beside him, Elara thought it over for a few seconds, scrunching up her face as she did so, before smoothing her face out and nodding, “Yes, that makes sense.”

Sirius, having had too many shocks this morning, did not have it in him to be surprised at Elara’s reaction. Besides, Elara and Aries were extraordinary in so many ways, he supposed her newfound ability wasn’t any more of a shock that the fact her eyes changed colour when a full moon rose. Remus’ thoughts were along a similar line. 

Clearing his throat, Sirius turned to Kreacher, “Before I send you to Missy, I need you to be aware Kreacher, that Missy is most likely in Potter Manor which is under a Death Fidelus. Will you be able to get to her?”

Kreacher nodded reverently, “Yes, Master Black, of course Master Black.”

“Ah, right.” Sirius swallowed, finding hero-worship very uncomfortable; Remus stifled his grin. 

Looking shrewdly at the elf Sirius commanded, “Well then Kreacher, I need you to find Missy, Dorea Potter-Black’s former house elf. Bring her to me, tell her the last of the Potters is missing.”

And with that Kreacher disappeared with a pop.

Both Remus and Sirius knew that it would take time for Kreacher to find Missy, so they’d decided instead of waiting around for him to return, they’d knock some more things off of their to-do list. At the very top of the list, was restoring Grimmauld place. A floo-call to Narcissa had the twins attending a play date with Draco for the day. Another letter to Douglas asking him to procure the necessary papers from the Departments for the Protection of Magical Children had Remus and Sirius a step closer to getting custody of Harry. 

With that done, Remus and Sirius departed for Grimmauld Place.Despite its dark foundations, and the darker memories it held for Sirius, once restored, Grimmauld place would be the perfect base of operations. It was one of, if not the most, secure buildings in Britain. It was unplottable and completely impenetrable. Sirius’ father had been nothing if not paranoid and every single charm, jink, hex, and incantation know to wizard-kind had been placed on the building. It had a forgot-me charm so that despite the fidelus, if you knew where the house was once, as soon as you left you’d forget again. There were layers upon layers of magic around the house, and the thought of the effort it would have taken to complete made Remus’’ head spin. 

If thinking of the protections placed on the outside of the building made Remus’ head spin, the intensity of dark magic that seemed to seep from the very walls within the house made him stagger as he entered the building. Sirius’ face was pale and his voice grim but determined. 

“Welcome to my childhood.” He said, waving his arms with a flourish as the house appeared from between the two muggle ones on the street. 

Hours later both wizards were drenched with sweat and panting. Having been left to fester and rot, the building had been in complete disrepair when they’d started. Neither had known where to start. 

Remus was grumbling under his breath, almost buried under a mountain of dark objects. Or at least he thought he was muttering under his breath; Sirius could hear almost every word from across the room. And could quite easily fill in the not so polite blanks.In all honestly, Sirius could understand why Remus was in a terrible mood.The entire building could be described in three words; dark, dank, and dangerous. Whenever you looked there was some evidence of his family’s allegiance to dark magic- from books on blood superiority to dark items like the gilded mirror that induced horrific hallucinations, which unfortunately Remus had looked into. Mould had crept from the windows to the walls, tracing slimy patterns in the wallpaper. Rows and rows of mangled, rotting elf-heads had decorated staircase and fireplaces. Remus had gagged at the sight of them. 

Five hours after they’d begun and Remus and Sirius had managed to scrape the building back to its foundations. Almost all of the dark items had been banished to one of the Black Vaults in Gringotts and Remus had taken great pleasure in burning the Black Family tapestry from the wall; he’d promised to have a new, much nicer one made so their children would know their ancestors on both sides of the family. Together, Remus and Sirius had even managed to transfigured the layout of the building. The basement was now an empty room that could be made into a training room. The first floor contained an enormous study, that would serve as Lord Blacks office and would house the infamous Black Library, as well as two formal meeting rooms, an informal meeting room, a waiting room for visitors of Lord Black and a double study for the assistant and steward of the House of Black. Employees which Sirius still needed to hire. The second through fourth floors of the house had been made into the the living area, and contained a large family kitchen, a utility room for Kreacher, a dining room, three reception/living rooms, 2 bathrooms and 8 bedrooms, 3 of which were guest rooms. 

Having spent so much of the day at Grimmauld place, Sirius and Remus had decided that their work was done. The building no longer harboured any dark magic, or dark creatures and only needed redecoration. Remus had suggested with a snort that Narcissa could take on the House as a project, after all she often brought new properties purely to have something to redecorate. 

~~~

Dusk had fallen over Hogwarts. Thee grounds around the castle were spectacular at this time of day and Minerva often found herself wandering around the Great Lake, letting her mind drift. she often thought that this might be her favouritepart of her day, when she could think of all she’d accomplished, so and all that she was grateful of. Minerva had written to Albus once’s few times since the accusations against him had broken, and though she hadn’t received a reply, she knew somehow, that Albus had received them. Slowly, she was coming to terms with his actions. At first she’d been furious, then hurt, then angry all over again. But she’d come to realise, no one was infallible, that everyone made mistakes, and when you’d reached levels of power that Albus had, the mistakes you made were greater than the mistakes others made. She knew she’d never be able to forgive him if he had indeed committed the crimes he was accused of, but she was beginning to understand that Albus had been allowed to commit these atrocities simply because no one had been willing to think he would in the first place. 

Turning her thoughts back to Hogwarts, Minerva smiled softly as she reflected on her recent choices. Handing some of her workload over to Pomona Sprout, her now deputy headmistress, had been incredibly helpful. Minerva had only realised how much extra work she’d been taking on when she’d realised how much she could delegate. Pomona had been thrilled to be included in Minerva’s work with magical children, especially since many muggle-borns ended up in her house out of fear of being an outcast, and was thinking of including the new Head Girl and Boy in some way. And finding a new Head of Gryffindor had been less difficult than she thought. Minerva was thrilled with the choice she’d made, and couldn’t wait to receive a reply from the wizard. If everything went well then Minerva would soon see her little niece and nephew (in all but blood) much, much more often. She only hoped her she’d made an offer the potential new member of staff couldn’t refuse.

~~~

In France, Aries was astutely ignoring his elder cousin, who had been lecturing him on proper behaviour during a play date. Instead Aries had his eyes closed, face scrunched up in concentration, his palms flat on the ground. A few seconds later he shouted in exclamation, jumping up and interrupting Draco’s speech. In his palm was a fragment of a precious stone, which he waved under Draco’s nose with a triumphant expression. Elara looked up from the book she was reading and flashed a grin at her twin, before smoothing her face when her cousin looked at her. 

Aries handed the the stone to Elara, who turned it over in her palm, before closing her left hand around it and closing her eyes. She opened her eyes a few seconds later and smirked, “Sapphire. Useful for inner vision. By the way Aries, Uncle Lucius is going to come in and tell you off in a minute.”

It was Draco’s turn to grin triumphantly at Aries, and Aries’ turn to glare. A few seconds later Lucius had entered the library. He rolled his eyes fondly at Aries and said, “Please stop taking gems from the ground when you’re on the second floor of the building. I will have to hang you out the window if you put another hole in the ceiling. Understood?”

Aries gulped and nodded at the stern man. As much as he like winding Draco up, his Uncle Lucius instilled a certain amount of natural fear that Sirius and Remus often said Aries lacked. Elara and Draco giggled as Lucius winked at them above Aries’ head. 

Sirius and Remus walked in just at that moment, looking covered in dust and sweat and who knows what else. Lucius sighed disdainfully, “First I have to lecture your son in making holes in my ceilings, and now I have to lecture his fathers on dragging mess of unknown origin throughout my house.”

Remus grinned sheepishly, but Sirius‘ grin was full of amusement and he called his hand, “You should be pleased, Lucy, I’ve found a new project for Cissa, so you don’t have to come home to your entire house rearranged. For the seventh time.”

Lucius rolled his eyes at Sirius, and walked out of the room with a sniff.

~~~

The next morning, during breakfast, a large brown owl dropped a letter onto the dining table just as the family were eating. Elara had refused to eat her cereal after the letter had fallen into it. Remus had been pleasantly surprised to see that it was from Minerva, who had become something of an aunt for the twins. His surprise had become complete and utter shock as he’d read the letter. He’d then read it twice more before he believed what he was seeing. 

_Dear Remus,_

_I’m sorry I haven’t written in so long- you’d never believe how busy my life has become as of late! Anyway, I hope this letter finds you in good health, you and Sirius both. And the twins, how are they?! I imagine still causing you as much mischief as they always have._

_I admit this letter isn’t entirely just a check up. I’m sure you’ve heard of the going’s on in Britain, and know of the accusations against Albus. I’ve been asked to be Acting Headmistress for the duration of Albus’ trial and maybe even after, by the Hogwarts Board of Governers. As a result, I feel it is hardly fair to continue in the role of Head of Gryffindor, and anyway I have so much work what with being Head of House, transfiguration professor, deputy headmistress, and Muggleborn Induction Coordinator, that it’s past time I needed to delegate some duties anyway. Therefore, Remus, I am asking if you would be willing to undertake the role of joint Head of Gryffindor House, and part-time transfiguration professor?_

_I know you and Sirius may not harbour the best of feelings toward Albus, and I cannot blame you, for even I had begun to lose faith in him before the news broke, so I am asking you to separate him from Hogwarts, when you consider what I am asking. The role would include teaching 1st years through to 3rd years and sharing the 4th year class with myself, giving you 13-16 hours of teaching per week, as well as ensuring you are available for 2 evenings and 3 days per week for support in your role as Head of House and professor. As a head of a house you would also be involved in various duties such as punishments for students who have misbehaved in your house, and rewards for those who achieved things worth rewarding, as well as ensuring the anti-bully policy is followed, and to encourage students to attend as many of the extra-curricular initiatives which have been launched in recent years._

_I know I am asking a lot from you, Remus, especially as a father of two small children but I can only hope to entice you and your family back to Britain with an offer you can’t refuse. Should you be willing to take the role, you will be given a salary of 8634 galleons, 9 sickles, and 4 knuts, as well as a suite of rooms to accommodate your family._

_And one last thing Remus, you need not worry about your being a werewolf, if you accept, the timetable will accommodate you wherever possible, and our Modern Magical World classes have made mandatory, so on the occasion any student should realise your condition, you will find a more welcome reception than you once might have._

_I know the choice I am offering you is a difficult one, but if you decide you do not want the position, I shall take no offence so long as you leave me enough time to search for another candidate!_

_Yours,_

_Minerva_

Sirius had been beside himself laughing as he’d read the letter over Remus’ shoulder, particularly during the ‘punish students who’ve misbehaved’ section. He’d laughed so much that Aries and Elara had absolutely demanded to know what was going on. They were just as stubborn as each of their fathers and they both sat with their arms crossed and jaws set, glaring at their parents. Remus had remained in his seat gaping and blinking. Sirius only laughed harder.

After a few minutes, Sirius had calmed himself. He was grinning wildly as he turned towards the two grumpy children, still demanding to be in the know,explained that “Papa’s just been offered a job as a teacher at the school we both used to go to when we were younger. He can’t believe it because he’s been asked to be in charge of one of the houses. Remember how me and Papa told you about Hogwarts and how students get put into different houses and sleep in the same part of the castle as the people in the same house?” 

Elara nodded wisely, whilst Aries looked at Sirius a bit blankly. Sirius grinned as he ruffled his sons hair, “I know it’s confusing little man.” 

Remus, having finally come around from the shock, looked at Sirius, “Surely she can’t mean to have me teach, I mean transfiguration wasn’t even my best subject firstly . Secondly, no matter what classes they’ve bloody implemented , everyone in Britain still bloody hates werewolves!Thirdly, head of Gryffindor, has she gone mad? How can Minerva McGonagall, strictest person in the whole world, think that  I could lead Gryffindor house as a role model, when I spent my entire Hogwarts life planning and executing the best pranks the school had ever seen?”

Sirius just grinned and looked at the twins, “Who thinks papa’s worrying like a silly silly worry warts and saying bad bad words?”

Aries and Elara giggled behind their hands, jumping up and down on their chairs and shouted, “ME! ME! ME!”

Remus glared at Sirius, “I’m serious, Padfoot. About all of it. I’m going to have to say no.”

This time Sirius glared right back, “No Moony,  I’m Sirius. And you are absolutely bloody not going to say no. You’re an amazing teacher, you’re patient and kind, an amazing listener and an exemplary Gryffindor. You got an Outstanding in both your NEWT and your OWL for transfiguration and you’ve only learnt more since then. And don’t even think about telling me that it’s different from the teaching you‘ve done in Romania. You’ve been teaching there for FOUR yearsyou absolute buffoon. And, in relation to your stupid werewolf concerns which I know you are over, and are just bringing up out of fear, Minnie has asked only you to work part time, which should cover quite a few of your moon-related absences. Additionally, there is your wolfsbane that I am sure Andrei will have no problem providing for you even if you no longer work with the pack. He’s a good man and you know it. So there not only is a slim chance any 11 to 15 year old is going to pay enough attention to figure out, but even if they do Minnie says they won’t react as badly and you’ll have wolfsbane so you won’t even be dangerous anyway. Now try and bloody argue with me. Over any of it.”

Remus continued to glare mutinously for a few more seconds, with Sirius glaring straight back. Still standing on their chairs, Aries and Elara looked at each other and then at their parents grinning unanimously as they shouted, “DADDY SAID A BAD WORD! DADDY SAID A BAD WORD!”

That was enough to make both Remus and Sirius laugh, and Sirius to grin apologetically at the twins. “Yes, bad Daddy indeed! But Papa wouldn’t listen so I had to! Now, who want to ask Papa if he’s going to be a teacher at the bestest school in the whole world or not?!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Please remember to leave a comment or kudos if you did!


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait for this chapter, it took me longer to write than expected and it was a bit difficult to piece together all the point of view plot sections that I wanted to include!
> 
> Also if you notice the age difference between the Lupin-Black twins in this chapter and the last one, just ignore it! I needed the twins to be closer in age to Harry for future events- I’ll go back and edit once this book is finished!

“... and rounding up the news flash for this morning I have one last piece of information for all you magical folks out there. Whilst we aren’t sure of the identity of said wizard, there’s rumour a new Lord Black is coming to Britain. Whether it’s true or not, well folks, I’m sure there will be plenty of surprises during the next Wizangamot session. Especially considering Albus Dumbledore has not yet resurfaced in Britain, 7 days after the warrant for his arrest was released by the DMLE. Stay tuned, and we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we know more.”

~|~

It had been a week of surprises for the Lupin-Black family. First off, the news about Harry and Dumbledore. Then the inheritance ritual that Sirius had undertaken and Remus had witnessed, and had made Sirius Lord Black officially. The letter that Minerva had sent Remus, asking him to take over her role as Head of Gryffindor, something he’d never even dreamt of, had been an even bigger surprise. 

The shock at seeing Missy, Dorea Potter-Black’s House little old House elf, glaring ferociously at Kreacher in their living room, resulted in a different kind of astonishment altogether. Even more incredible, was the fact that Kreacher was looking down at his feet in embarrassment. Elara and Aries were grinning at the scene, peeking above the top of the sofa. 

Remus was the first to speak, “Missy, it’s been so long! We’re sorry to have made Kreacher bring you here but it was urgent.”

The irate elf turned her luminous tennis ball eyes to Remus. Crossing her arms and narrowing said eyes in a perfectly intimidating manner she spoke, “Oh really. And was being so urgent Mister Remus, that Kreacher had to kidnap Missy from the housy that Mistress Dorea charged Missy with keeping worthy of the Potter family?”

Remus and Sirius shared a look. The Potter Estate was under a Death Fidelus, which is why Kreacher was the only being that could access Missy inside of it. Only a Potter could remove the Fidelus and access the house once again. Within it, Missy was likely to have been unaware of how much time had passed, forgetting the days as they came and went. Swallowing once, Remus explained everything as quickly as possible. He explained how Britain had been led to believe that Harry had died along with James and Lily in 1981, and that it was 1985 now, and how an investigation into Dumbledore’s actions at the end of the war lead them to believe that Harry might in fact be alive. A myriad of emotions passed through the little elf’s eyes as Remus spoke, and by the end of his explanation, her stern expression had long faded and her arms hung limp by her sides. Her eyes shone luminously and she sniffled. 

Remus’ heart twinged and his voice became softer, “Believe me, we know it’s a lot to take in. And Missy as Black’s we’re not your masters but Sirius and I would be eternally grateful if you could try and find Harry for us. We’ve no idea where to look and your magical connection to the Potters might help you find him, in ways as wizards we wouldn’t be able to.”

Missy nodded slowly, determination shining in her eyes as she resolved herself. Missy will find Mistress Lily and Master Jamesy’s Harry and bring him to his Uncles. Master Harry shall not grow up without his family, not under Missy’s watch.”

Glaring one last time at Kreacher, Missy said, “And you will protect the last of the Black children, Kreacher. Or Missy will have something to say.” 

And then she disappeared with a crack.

~~~

Elara and Aries had been bouncing off of the walls all day long. Their encounter with Missy and Kreacher and the knowledge that they had a cousin their own age to play with who was maybe coming to stay with them appeared too much to keep the twins under control. Sirius was about ready to strangle them. Well, not really but they were driving him madder than Peeves at Hogwarts.

Sirius jumped up from his seat as the walls of the entire cottage shook. In the distance he heard Aries shout out in triumph and sighed heavily. Right, that was it. This time he really would have to tell his son off, no matter what great piece of underage magic he had performed. Remus would simply murder Sirius himself, if he came home to find the cottage a shattered mess on the ground and found out it was because Sirius hadn’t told Aries off. Not that Sirius was being dramatic. 

Glaring at his not very abashed son, whose luminous amber eyes held little regret and were full of pride, Sirius spoke, “And what exactly were you trying to accomplish Aries, by pulling our home to the ground?”

Aries grinned cheekily, before his expression became more serious, “C’etait un  accident . I wanted to see if there was any protection in the walls. Elara was scared of all the change and I wanted to show her that our home is protected by gemmes.” 

Sirius stern gaze softened and he bent down to his sons height, looking Aries in the eyes and placing an arm on his shoulder. 

Sirius smiled gently and spoke seriously, “It was very kind and brave of you to reassure your sister like that Aries. But you could’ve simply asked me about the protections me and your Papa have put on the house to keep you cheeky monkeys safe. Not that either of you need to worry about anything at all. I know we’ve had some strange visitors in the last few days, and you two aren’t used to strangers, but I promise you Aries, me and your Papa will always, always keep you and Elara safe. No matter where we live, or what’s going on, you and Elara are the most important things in the world to us, and we’ll always make sure you’re okay before we do anything. 

As for pulling the gemstones from the house, it was very dangerous to try and pull them all out from the walls. It would have been very easy for you to cause an accident, and since I was inside you could’ve pulled the walls down on me if even one too many stones were pulled out. I need you to promise me you won’t do this again.”

Aries nodded his head, and spoke quietly, avoiding his fathers eyes, “I promise promise. I’m sorry Daddy, I would never want to hurt you.”

Sirius lifted his sons face so that Aries’ gaze met his own, and smiled, “I know you wouldn’t cheeky monkey, now let’s go get Elara down from the trees and we can all play some quidditch. Then we can have Le goûter and then papa will be home. How does that sound?”

Aries grinned, “Très bon!”

Sirius laughed and stood up straight, taking Aries by the hand and ruffling his hair, “i thought we said Wednesdays were for English?”

~~~

It didn’t take long for Missy to find Harry. She returned in the same day as she’d left, just after twilight. As the Black family were eating, she’d retreated to the kitchen, keeping herself busy by tidying up. Tears came to her eyes as she thought about her little Master Harry, so lonely and sad, not knowing how special he was, not being looked after like he should. Missy knew how furious Messers Remus and Sirius would be when she told them about Harry’s home, and though she’d always whacked them with a wooden spoon when they’d fought at Potter Estaste, she felt no remorse for the person they’d enact their anger on. Master Harry was an innocent child and she hadn’t been able to protect him, the last of her family. 

Hidden under the Fidelus, tidying a house that hadn’t needed tidying for years, she’d forgotten how she’d loved the Potters. How they’d been her family. Mistress Dorea had been a shining star in the Black family, had protected her from a life of servitude to the Blacks, who were notoriously cruel to their elves. At Mistress Dorea and Master Charlus’ House, Missy was respected, spoken to kindly and a part of the family, she was never given tasks impossible to complete, never made to punish herself. Missy vowed to do anything Messers Remus and Sirius asked of her to get her Master Harry back, and once he was safe, swore she’d do anything to keep him safe and happy for as long as she was alive.

Not long after she’d made her resolutions, Sirius and Remus entered the kitchen. They started at how clean it was. Both of them had stepped up in the adult department so their house was always clean, but hadn’t been quite so  sparkly for a long while. 

Sirius smiled at Missy and shook his head, “Really Missy, you didn’t need to clean up. I’ve learnt since I was 16, I’m even good at cleaning up!”

Remus snorted, “Figuring out how to tidy up with charms doesn’t made you good at it. It makes you a cheater.”

Sirius smirked, “No Moony, it makes me efficient.”

Missy rolled her eyes at the pair, and shook the spoon in her hand at them. “Missy likes to be helpful. It was nice to Missy to clean something that was actually dirty for once. And anyway,”

Missy bit her lip, eyes darting between the two, before she continued, “Missy doesn’t think you wills want to clean up much after Missy tells you about Master Harry.”

Sirius inhaled sharply. Despite everything that had happened in the last week, despite Missy being here in front of him, Sirius hadn’t truly let himself hope that his precious godson was alive. To know, to be completely and utterly sure, was more terrifying than he’d ever imagined. Sirius saw every emotion he felt reflected on his husbands face. Remus was just as nervous, terrified, excited, petrified and determined as he was.

Remus gestured to the table, “Sit and tell us Missy. Where has Dumbledore hidden him?”

Missy sat, nervously scrunching her pillowcase in her hands. “Missy is not sure where to start. Master Harry is alive yes, but he is not happy or healthy. He is with a nasty, nasty muggle. Missy couldn’t take him away, or do any magic, because of the strong strong wards on the housy. The man is loud and bad and shouts and stomps and hits. The lady is called Petunia and is scared of the bad muggle. Missy saw Master Harry chucked in a cupboard. Missy saw Petunia being knocked down. And in the corner another little one watches it all. Missy worries for this little muggle. The house is not safe Messers Sirius and Remus. Master Harry and the little one must be saved.”

Remus and Sirius shared a look of complete and utter horror. All Sirius could think of was his own childhood. How his parents had beaten and battered him, how Regulus and become their golden angel in order to spare himself. How his life had ended because he’d realised they were wrong. Memories of Lily worrying about her sister, about how she hadn’t written in months, rolled through Remus’ mind. He could see nothing but the anguish within in Lily’s eyes. 

Remus put his hand on Sirius’ arm, closing his eyes against the horrors in his own mind, “We’ll save him Padfoot.”

Missy looked up from the ground, “Missy couldn’t take him, but Missy noticed Master Harry can leave the house if the way is made clear. Missy noticed it was not warned against an animagus.”

Sirius’ head snapped up, but it was Remus who spoke, “We really never did get a thing past Dorea did we?”

Missy smirked and then became serious, “The wards is strong on the housey, but they can be fooled. We needs to be quicks and sneaky. Missy will take Mister Sirius, but first Mister Sirius needs to get Master Harry’s trust.”

Sirius thought for a moment, “The twins have summer school tomorrow so we have from 9 till 4:30 to get Harry. I think we should drop the twins to school, then I think it’s time for the family meeting. We need a solid Black family if we’re to defend ourselves. Once the family are onside I can go to Harry for the first time, he’ll trust a dog. I think, more than a man.”

Remus nodded as he spoke, “I agree. And Padfoot, I think it’s time I met with Minerva, and fill her in on Harry. I think she’d be on side with any plan we come up with- she was one of James’s choices for godmother and she loved him. And, I’ve thought about her offer properly, and being a Hogwarts professor is something I’ve long dreamed of but never thought I’d be. Teaching in Romania would be too much if we want to shake things up in Britain, and I want to be as close to you and the twins as possible.“

Sirius smiled softly at Remus, and learnt forward brushing his lips across the mans cheek. “If you’ll be happy, my love, if it’s what you want, then we’ll make it work.” 

Remus’ answering smile was full of more love and adoration than could be put into words. 

~~~

Aries and Elara went to school without a fuss, running off to their friends happily as Remus dropped them to the gate. Letting their teacher know that Sirius would be picking them up in the afternoon, Remus waved goodbye to his children, one of whom had already managed to get grass stains on his white socks. 

Shaking his head and grinning as he left the playground, Remus walked through the French village until he reached a large barn which no one would noticed if he disappeared behind. Taking out the British muggle coin from his pocket, he checked his watch. Five minutes later and he felt the nauseating tugging sensation of portkey travel kick in. 

A few moments later and Remus could no longer see the steep hills of the French countryside, or the slipform stone houses that made up the small village. Instead his surroundings were replaced by the rolling hills of the Scottish countryside, and the village of Hogsmeade. Heading towards Forescues, a cafe branch of Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley, Remus ordered himself an espresso and a pastry. There was much of French life that Remus could happily live off forever, it’s breakfast being one of them. Passing the time until 9:30 when Minerva had managed to spare him an hour, due to his urgency and calming his nerves, Remus absentmindedly dipped his pastry into the coffee and savoured the taste. It was only after the pastry was devoured and he was contemplating buying another as he read the French newspaper he’d brought with him, that he noticed the whispering and staring from two girls sitting a table or so away from him.

Keeping his face pleasant, he looked up and smiled cheerfully at the pair, who did at least seem embarrassed to be caught gossiping. Remus soon forgot about the nosey couple, who he assumed had been laughing about his tearing up of the pastries and dipping it into pure coffee. Moving to Romania after the war had been the best decision he’d made for himself in his entire life, he was a different wizard than he’d been. In another world he might have been embarrassed and thought about the couple and their actions for days, wondering if they knew he was a monster deep down. Now he was able to brush off thoughts of them without a second thought, and knew in his bones that he had a condition, but was just as much a wizard as anyone else was. 

Leaving the cafe at exactly 9:10, to allow himself enough time to walk up to the castle, Remus put some galleons on the table, making sure to leave the waiter a tip. Enjoying the rare warmth of sunny Scotland and the picturesque sights of a studentless Hogsmeade, Remus was slightly annoyed to be accosted by the two girls who he’d caught gossiping in the cafe. 

The first girl, the taller of the two with striking amber eyes spoke up first, “I just wanted to say that we’re very sorry for staring at you, it’s just we recognised you from  La Nouvelles De Jour . Your work and advocation for werewolf rights is truly inspiring, and the stories about your fight with that monster Greyback have become legendary within werewolf communities. I never expected to see my hero tearing up pastries in a cafe in Hogsmeade.”

Remus was astonished. He’d written many articles for werewolf rights, and had taken part in many peaceful demonstrations to try and further werewolf rights and to properly educate wizarding communities about werewolves. Never had he imagined that he’d be an inspiration to young wolves.

The second girl then spoke up, “We can’t tell you how much of an inspiration you’ve become in England. And well, your life with the notoriously dangerous and handsome Sirius Black has only fuelled the rumours about you.”

Remus couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him, if only the world knew the very normal life they lived with their children. But he smiled easily at the two witches before him and said, “Well I haven’t been to Britain or in mainstream wizarding society for year now so I don’t know exactly what the rumours say about Sirius and I, but I can say that Sirius will be thrilled to know that he’s made my reputation even more mysterious. And really, there’s no harm done for the staring, I really was too preoccupied with the pastry.”

The witches giggled at his comments about Sirius and with a few final farewell comments, the pair left Remus to continue with his day. Unfortunately, the delay the witches had caused him, meant that Remus would have no time to compose himself before his meeting with Minerva, and also meant that he could feel the coffee swishing around in his stomach. 

With moments to spare Remus found himself at the gargoyle statue of the headmaster office. Just as he was about to say the password Minerva had given him, the witch herself appeared from behind the stairs of the statue. 

Minerva was just as Remus remembered her, with the exception of a few more streaks of grey in the tight bun at the back of her head. The witch smiled at Remus, a twinkle in her eye as she greeted him, “Remus Lupin, I thought you might even turn down my offer and instead you ask for a meeting as soon as possible.”

Remus grinned, “What can I say Professor, the offer was just too good to be true.”

Minerva shook her head and laughed, “You’ve spent too much time with Sirius Black, Mr Lupin. And please, you must call me Minerva if we are to be colleagues.”

Minerva then raised a thin eyebrow at him, “That is, if you are indeed accepting my offer?”

Settling into one of the plush burgundy chairs opposite from Minerva’s desk, Remus replied, “I am here to formally accept the role of Transfiguration Professor and Head of Gryffindor, but there are some other matters that I wish to discuss with you. And I think you’ll need something stronger than tea if you’re going to get through everything I need to tell you.”

~~~

Sirius was pacing in his new office/study/library at Grimmauld place. He was nervous though he knew he didn’t need to be. This meeting would be fine, it would only consist of his cousins and their families and his lawyer, Douglas, who’d he’d met briefly in person just five minutes ago. Still, with Missy keeping watch over Harry, and Remus securing Minerva’s trust and his new role at Hogwarts, Sirius felt more alone than he did when he and Remus were in separate countries. 

Taking a deep breath and hiding his nerves under the mask of Lord Black, Sirius smoothed his formal robes, adorned with the crest of the Black family and adopted a cool, calm, and collected expression. Striding from the room, Sirius headed for the formal reception room where his family were waiting. 

Smirking internally at Andromeda’s complete astonishment, Sirius nodded to all those in the room as they rose, “You may all take a seat.”

Andromeda and Ted seemed more at unease than Narcissa and Lucius, despite once upon a time having a closer relationship with Sirius, than the one Sirius now held with Narcissa. Nymphadora was looking around the final room in open curiosity and Draco was sitting completely upright, the perfect Heir to the Malfoy House.

Sirius cleared his throat as he took his seat at the head of the table, “We in this room are the last remaining members of the Moste Ancient and Noble House of Black not tainted by the dark arts. Once upon a time we were allies and friends, even though we were children. As adults we lived very different lives. I know I am not the Lord Black you might have expected, especially having completely abandoned the house for the last 10 years of my life, but if having my children has taught me one thing, it is that there is nothing more powerful family. Narcissa, Lucius and I are closer than we have ever been, and yet, somehow, our children who bicker and argue every chance they get are closer to one another than we are. Andy, we have not spoken properly since before I was put in Askaban.”

Sadness filled Andromeda’s face, and she took a glance at her sister out of the corner of her eyes. 

Continuing Sirius spoke, “I have a plan. A plan to reinstate the House of Black, to revive our house until we are worthy of the title Moste Ancient and Noble. But before I can do that, I require your help, al, of you. It has been too long since the Black amity presented a united front. I ask that you Andromeda, accept my request to be reinstated I to the Black family, and I ask you Narcissa, to return to Britain alongside Remus and I. I ask you both to become the foundations of the most formidable resurgence of a Moste Noble and Ancient House that’s there ever was.

Sirius paused to allow those in the room to absorb his words. 

Narcissa was the first to speak, “I understand, of course, but is there any chance we may say goodbye before she passes?”

Sirius expression softened slightly but he remained firm, “I don’t think it is a wise idea. But if you wish to then I will permit you and Andromeda to visit her if there is time for 10 minutes. Bellatrix is no longer the Bella we knew as children. Askaban has made her truly insane, believe me.” 

Narcissa nodded once and then resolved herself, sharing a look of solidarity with her sister for the first time in more than 10 years.

Gesturing towards Douglas, Sirius continued, “There is one reason in particular that lead me to becoming Lord Black more quickly than it would have happened otherwise. Remus and I have discovered that Harry Potter, my godson, is alive. He did not die as Albus Dumbledore told the world. Worse than this betrayal, is the fact that Harry is living in terrible conditions. His uncle is abusive, both physically and emotionally to his wife, 6 year old son and to my 5 year old godson Harry. Douglas has assured me it is illegal to kidnap the three from the abusive bastard and so I’ll need some help. Remus and I have a plan, a plan dependent on more luck than we should hope for but one that should work if we all work together.”

Lucius spoke for the first time since the meeting began, “Narcissa and I will do whatever you require of us. We remain in your debt, and truly, children are a soft spot of ours.”

Andromeda looked slightly astonished at Lucius’s words and seemed to need a few moment to digest them. But she too replied on behalf of her family, “We would be honoured to help you Sirius, however we can.”

Sirius smiled a true smile of gratitude, albeit a small one. “In that case, let me explain everything.”

And so Sirius described every that he and Remus had come to understand. How Dumbledore had arrive sat the Potters before Sirius had, and on discovering Harry was alive, for some reason, took him and stashed him at the Dursley’s. He went on to explain how Dumbledore had then taken a dead muggle and cast a dark curse on the body so that it would pass all identifications as being Harry Potter, so he could convince the world that Harry had died along with his parents. Sirius confessed that they had not figured out the reason for this yet. Moving on to Albus’ role in his incarceration, Sirius described how the old wizard had known that Sirius hadn’t received a trial, and had allowed him to go to Askaban simply because he had never seen past Sirius last name. Further to this, Sirius described to his family, how after Albus no longer required Remus to be his faithful spy, told him that Remus’ life in Britain was over, encouraging him to leave the country, so that he would not realise that Sirius had not had a trial. Finally Sirius described how Remus had realised that their house elf might be able to find the Potter family elf, who would have had been stuck under a Death Fidelus since James’ death. Explaining how Kreacher had found Missy, and then how Missy had found Harry, beaten terrified and alone, Sirius came to the end of his story. 

Taking a deep breath he spoke one more time, “I plan to take Harry today, he will live with me and Remus and though we’d planned that I make my debut as Lord Black at the Wizangamot session before Dumbledores trial I would prefer to push that deadline back, so that I can spend time with Harry, helping to heal him and making him a part of my family. In order to take Harry and lush my debut back, I need two things, first a proxy to stand in my place at this Wizangamot session, and secondly to this afternoon, gain incontrovertible proof of abuse.”

Ted cleared his throat, “I may be able to help with the latter, there is a spell I was taught by an agent from the department for magical child protection, it reveals all mistreatment a child has suffered within an environment. Also, I can give a full medical examination to add further proof.”

Eyes shining with gratitude, Sirius nodded at Ted, “That would be very much appreciated Ted, thank you.”

Ted returned his smile with ease, and his daughter and wife’s eyes filled with pride. 

Narcissa spoke next, “We would offer to be your proxy, but it depends in the message you want to send. Much as we have distanced ourselves from our past, the British don’t forget and if you want to set yourself up a neutral if not light house then maybe Malfoys are not the wisest decision. The choice, however, is yours Cousin; we will be making our own debut anyway.”

Before Sirius could reply, Andromeda interjected, “I could represent our house in your absence, Cousin. I remember all of our childhood education and it will give me a chance to teach Nymphadora of any of the duties of amember of a Moste Ancient and Noble House, that I hadn’t previously thought were necessary to teach her.”

Sirius considered her suggestion and consulted Douglas before nodding slowly and smiling, “Perfect. Now, there are a few smaller matters I wanted to discuss, before we finalise our plans for this afternoon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed- remember to leave a comment I forgot you think there’s anything missing or anything you want to say about this chapter, and leave kudos if you haven’t yet ;)


	6. SIX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly, I’m sorry for the longer wait for this chapter, I’ve just had a lot going on recently and some writers block but I hope this meets all your expectations! And I promise soon it will be time for Dumbledores trials I just wanted to get Harry back first as I felt it would motivate Remus and Sirius even more so in the upcoming events! 
> 
> Please let me know if you enjoy this, and if there something anything you would like to see coming up!

Minerva’s face was ashen and she had a hand held to her throat. Unmistakeable devastation lined her face as she spoke, “Surely this can’t be true Remus, surely, Albus would never take a child from his family? From the people his parents would have wished him to grow up with?”

With an apologetic shake of his head Remus replied, “I’m sorry to have to be the one to have broken this to you Minerva, but as James’s godmother, and someone who would’ve been as close to Harry as we would have been, had James and Lily lived, Sirius and I thought you deserved to know before it became public knowledge.”

Sorrow replaced some of the horror in Minerva’s eyes as she thought of Harry as the baby he’d been when she’d last seen him. There had been so much loss in the war, so many of her friends, and colleagues and students had been lost or worse and she rarely allowed herself to despair over them, but in this moment Minerva could only surrender to the grief that swept through her. In her minds eyes she could see James, young and handsome, with a giggling green eyed baby on his hip, Lily in the background, smiling at the two wizards in the centre of her world. 

Clearing her throat, Minerva decided that this was her final straw. She and Albus may have been lifelong friends in another world, but in this one, she was done with him, done with the power he had been allowed to wield for too long, done with the decisions he made with consulting with the appropriate authorities. He may have been leader of the light in the war, but Albus Dumbledore was no light wizard now. As far as she was concerned, Albus would never be allowed the same power he had once had. There was no excuse in the world that would convince her that placing a child in an abusive home, placing a child anywhere after having assumed responsibility for him, despite not having the authority to, and not checking on the conditions that the child was growing up in, was an unforgivable crime.

Urgency lining her voice, Minerva said, “You must tell me Remus, if there is anything I can do for you and Sirius, anything at all to help. For I know in my heart there is no way you or Sirius will leave Harry where he is, indeed if I knew where the boy was I’d be there this minute to take him away.”

Remus smiled ruefully at his former professor, “Even if I had wanted to hide our plan from you, I should’ve known there’d be no way. We rarely ever did get anything past you for long, even in school. But since you ask, there are one or two things that you might be able to help us with...” 

And so, like the Marauder Remus knew she was all along, Minerva McGonagall plotted with her former student and now colleague. Together they came up with a plan, a plan that should Albus come to Hogwarts, he would not find the wards so welcoming to him as they once were. Should Albus try and reclaim Hogwarts, he would also find that Hogwarts herself did not approve of the way he had run the school. Indeed it seemed as though more than one of Albus’ former allies had lost faith in him today.

~~~

On the other side of the country, Sirius and Ted were in Grimmauld place, preparing for the journey they were about to take. Narcissa and Lucius had taken Draco home so that they could begun to make preparations for their own return to public life in Britain. Andromeda had sent Nymphadora with them, so that Narcissa could spend the afternoon educating her on the basics of the politics that she would need to understand going forward. Only Andromeda, Ted and Sirius himself remained at Grimmauld place. Andromeda was to remain, so that she could start work as Sirius’ proxy in the Wizangamot and so, should either Sirius or Ted require assistance she would be able to help them. Sirius had given himself and Ted an amulet which, should they activate with the correct spell, would alert the master amulet in the study at Grimmauld place, signalling to Andromeda that they needed her.

Electricity hummed through Sirius’ veins, if he had ever been scared in his life, it was in this moment. So many emotions were running rampant in his mind and it was all he could do to steel himself. Shoving down his fear and excitement, Sirius turned to the two house elves before him. “Kreacher, I need you to go to Remus, to tell him that phase 2 of today’s plan is about to be enacted. And then do as he asks for the afternoon.”

The wizened elf bowed his head then disappeared with a crack. 

Ted kissed his wife on the cheek and then placed an arm upon on Sirius’, whilst Sirius took the hand of Missy. Checking one last time that Ted had his amulet and emergency portkey, Sirius nodded to Missy. Seconds later Ted and Sirius found themselves at the end of a throughly ordinary street. Each house on each side of the road was identical, with each having a perfectly ordinary drive and a well manicured front garden. Even Ted, a muggleborn, shook his head at the  ordinary-ness  of it all. 

Missy pointed out the house that Harry lived in and with one last shared glance, Ted set off for the house. Dressed as a salesperson, Ted would distract Petunia whilst Sirius would sneak through the back gate as a dog and find Harry. 

The plan worked just as Sirius had hoped it would. Sirius felt the wards pass around him as he crossed the borders of the house, dismissing him as any kind of threat. Creeping along the side of the house, Sirius faintly heard Ted say something about a window cleaning business. As soon as he came around the side of the house and the kitchen came into view, Sirius’ breath was knocked from his lungs. His fur stood on end and he couldn’t help the whine that escaped him as his eyes met a teeny, tiny scrawny version of James. Messy jet black hair, golden skin and green eyes the same shade as Lily’s, if there was any doubt left in Sirius’ mind, it disappeared as soon as he set eyes on Harry. From what Sirius could see Harry was wobbling precariously on top of a stool, holding a bucket that was surely too big for a 5 year old to be holding, cleaning the very top of the French doors that lead into the Dursley garden.

As Harry finally noticed the giant black dog that had wandered into the garden, he almost fell off of the chair he was standing on in shock. Sirius winced at the sight, his heart leaping even as Harry righted himself. Watching as longing, fear and anxiety flitted over Harry’s face, Sirius wagged his tail, even as his heart broke for his godson. After a few more moments the small boy darted a look at Petunia by the door and Sirius saw the decision in his face. Scampering from the chair and carefully putting the bucket down so that no water spilt, Harry ducked from the kitchen and crept toward Sirius. 

Carefully, he sat down on the grown and rested his head on his knees a metre or so away from Padfoot. Timid as a mouse, Harry murmured, “I can only stay for a second. Aunt Petunia will be angry if the windows aren’t done. And if Uncle Vernon see’s they aren’t done he’ll get angry with her and then I’ll be in trouble.”

Padfoot took a few steps forward, and nuzzled his face into Harry’s feet, feeling Harry tense as he came closer. After a few seconds, Harry slowly reached for the dog, carefully petting him. He whispered, “Uncle Vernon says I’m like a dog. But you’re so soft and gentle. Uncle Vernon says I’m like the runt that his sister drowns because it doesn’t deserve to live.”

Sirius whined softly, a deep pain in his chest from the sorrow he felt at his godson’s words. The nasally tones of Petunia’s voice drifted from within the house and Sirius felt Harry tense up one again. Gently, Sirius nuzzled his head against his godsons knee and then took a few steps back. Harry watched curiously as Padfoot stretched himself out, wagged his tail once and then transformed into a man!

Mouth hanging open, Harry stared at Sirius in a mixture of fear and wonder. He blinked and rubbed his eyes and then pinched himself, to triple check he wasn’t imagining things.

Smiling and sitting down cross-legged on the ground, Sirius spoke softly, “Hi Harry, my names Sirius. I’m your godfather.”

Confusion was evident in Harry’s eyes, his open honest face now guarded and closed off. Biting his lips, chin wobbling, Sirius could see the fear in Harry’s eyes as he spoke, “Did Uncle Vernon send you to play a trick on me? Is this because I didn’t clean the car fast enough? I didn’t mean to be bad again!”

Fighting to keep the thunderous anger from his face, Sirius shook his head slowly, noticing how Harry’s eyes followed his every move. Desperate to put his arms around the boy, but knowing it wouldn’t be well received, Sirius placed his hand on Harry’s, arm slowly, and carefully, and said, “I promise you it’s true. I didn’t know you were alive, Harry, or I would have done everything in my power to make sure you never grew up here. I was best friend’s with your mum and dad, if anything were to happen to them, I was supposed to look after you.”

Harry gasped and his eyes widened, “Did you really know them?”

Sirius nodded and smiled, “Your dad, James, had the same messy hair and golden skin. Your mum, Lily, had the same emerald green eyes. They were the best people in the whole world. And I know they loved you more than anything in the whole entire world.” 

Longing and a crushing sadness entered Harry’s eyes and he hunched up, arms hugging his knees, “I don’t think they would love me anymore. I never do chores right, and ... and Uncle Vernon says I’m a freak and it must be true because no one wants to be friends with me at school, and Aunt Petunia always looks at me like I’ve done something wrong.” 

Voice as fierce as he could make it without scaring the tiny, afraid boy in front of him, Sirius said, “Your parents would be so so so proud of you Harry, I promise. Your uncle and Aunt don’t deserve you.” 

Any pity Sirius felt for Petunia had long vanished. Sirius didn’t understand how she could allow her disgrace of a husband to abuse and belittle an innocent, kind soul so undeserving as his godson. Memories of his own childhood fame to mind and his blood boiled, knowing exactly how scared and how little of himself, Harry felt. 

Swallowing tightly and smoothing his face to calmness once more, Sirius smiled at his godson, “I have an offer for you Harry, if you would like, you could come and live with me. My husband, Remus, is kind and quiet, but he loves to tell stories and he knows so many about your mum and dad. I also have two children, just a little bit younger than you, who are your cousins. My son Aries, is cheeky and a bit of a troublemaker but he’ll always stay up with you if you have a nightmare. My daughter, Elara, is more like Remus, she’s quiet and loves to read books, but she’s even more of a trickster than Aries, and almost always manages to get away with it! You could come and live with us- our house is surrounded by hills and trees to climb, and even a little river to splash about in. There’s a school you could go to with your cousins, who’d so love to meet you Harry. And most exciting of all, I could teach you how to use your magic, because you’re magic like me.” 

Longing so strong it’s intensity it surprised Sirius, appeared on Harry’s face. He bit his lip and stared long and hard at Sirius, chest rising and falling heavily. Voice barely a whisper, Harry said, “Uncle Vernon told me if I ran away again, he would ... he would get his belt out and show my what fear really was.” 

At that Sirius finally cracked inside. Ran away again? How many times had his poor godson tried to escape. He shook his head once and rose to his feet, holding his hand out to the timid boy in front of him, “You don’t have to worry about him ever again Harry. We’re going to see your Aunt right this second, and I’ll going to explain to her that you, my wonderful godson is going to come home, to his real home, where you belong. Is that okay?” 

Bewildered and still a little bit afraid of what would happen if Uncle Vernon found him, Harry made his mind up. For some reason he trusted the strange person in front of him who’d turned from a dog into a man, who had long hair and had a husband, two things which Aunt Petunia said were  unnatural . Harry never wanted to see his Aunt and Uncle ever again, but he didn’t think he would be able to escape them forever, so, maybe, maybe he could go with this man and meet his cousins, who would hopefully be better than Dudley, and when his uncle eventually found him, the beating he’d get would be worth it. He hoped so anyway. 

Harry nodded at the man, Sirius, and stood up. He took the hand Sirius offered and said, “I want to go with you, Sirius.” 

Sirius’ answering smile was blinding, so infectious it made Harry smile shyly in return. Though Harry did struggle to keep up with the Sirius’s stride as he marched through the Dursley household. As they made their way through the house, Sirius taking satisfaction at the mud his boots put on the carpet, Harry shrank to Sirius’ side, nerves running through his entire body. 

Petunia Dursley’s shrieked in horror as she shut the front door on the nice salesman who she’d finished talking with, and she took in the sight of Sirius Black. Tall with sleek black hair that met his shoulders, dressed in impressive formal robes she had never seen  anyone wear, he most certainly did  not meet Petunia’s requirement of ordinary. 

Barely noticing Harry, she hissed at Sirius, eyes wild, “What are you doing in my house? Who are you? Get out, out before I call the police!!” 

Sirius voice was hard, “You aren’t going to do that, Mrs Dursley. And as for who I am, don’t you recognise me from Lily’s wedding? I was best man, you should recall.” 

Petunia face went from white to red to purple and back to white. Two dark patches of red appeared on her cheeks as she shrieked, “You’re ... you’re one of them! Freak! Get out of my house!!!” 

Sirius felt Harry shake at his side, and squeezed his hand gently, eyes narrowing viciously at Petunia. He was glad Harry couldn’t see his face. Voice low and dangerous Sirius spoke, “You do not have a right to call me any names, Petunia Dursley. I will be taking Harry from you, he will live with me, and his cousins. You will sign the papers given to you by the salesman at the door. Despite participating in the abuse hurtled at my godson, I will offer you the chance to get away from your husband. No one deserves to live with someone who torments them, and really, do you wish for your son to turn out like his father?” 

Petunia opened and closed her mouth, like a goldfish. She looked down at the papers she’d taken from the salesman and saw that what she’d thought were price quotes and customer recommendations had somehow merged into custody documents. Petunia gasped in shock and her hands shook, as if she’d been doused in freezing cold water. Shaking her head and mumbling unintelligibly under her breath, Sirius waited for Petunia to calm herself. 

A few moments later, after she had taken a few deep breaths, Petunia lifted her head and looked Sirius dead in the eyes, “The one who left the boy here said he had no family left apart from us, said he’d be safe here because of,” dropping her voice to a whisper and darting her head around the room as if someone were listening in, “some ... some blood magic Lily did.” 

Eyebrows lifting in shock, Sirius shrugged his shoulders, “He lied. He led me to believe Harry had died with his parents. As for safety, I am Lord of the most powerful family in my world, Harry will be safe with me, and he will grow up happy and loved. Something that won’t happen if he reminds here. Sign the papers Petunia.” 

After a few seconds, Petunia ducked her head and nodded meekly. Taking a pen from a drawer in cupboard she’d been leaning on for support, Petunia signed Harry James Potter over to his godfather. Irreversibly. 

Taking the papers from her hands, and with a great deal of effort softening his voice to something almost nice, Sirius offered Petunia a new life once again, “Lily would not have wanted you to suffer, even after your treatment of her son.” 

Petunia sighed and shook her head, “Dudley needs a father, and there is no place I would go that he wouldn’t find me. But, we will start fresh. And I will make sure Dudley doesn’t become his father.” 

Looking piercingly at Sirius, hands clasped in front of her, face returned to a somewhat normal shade Petunia said one last thing, “Treat the boy better than we have.” 

Sirius nodded once, surprised, and strode from number 4 Privet Drive, Harry by his side and custody papers in his hand, without a glance back.

~~~

After his meeting with Minerva, at the end of which they had in fact discussed Remus’ new position as transfiguration professor, Remus had left the castle feeling much lighter than he had when he’d entered. Only half surprised when Kreacher appeared in front of him and said he was there to accompany Master Remus on Master Black’s orders, Remus had headed for his next stop of the morning. 

Since deciding to move back to Britain, one of the biggest questions on Sirius and Remus’ minds, was where they were going to live. It was a big decision, they needed to find a place that would allow them the privacy to bring up their children in peace, but also a place that would let Remus and Sirius be in close proximity to their new jobs. On top of that, they wanted to be close to Potter Manor. In the end, they had decided the best idea was to review the properties they already owned, and by that they meant the ones they’d inherited since Sirius had taken up the mantle of Lord Black. This was why Remus was heading for Diagon Alley. It would be easier to apparatus to their new house from London, than from Scotland- too much apparition in one day, over long distances, resulted in a very, very severe version of vertigo. Sirius had learnt that the hard way. 

With a spring in his step, Remus grinned as his eyes met the new Lupin-Black household. Even Kreacher at his side gasped in wonder as his eyes met the Manor House.Surrounded by the utterly stunning rolling, sweeping hills of the Welsh countryside, the 3 story white French style mansion with terracotta roofing was a slice of heaven. Walking along the wildflower lined pathway leading to the front door, Remus’ grin widened further. The mansion had been commissioned by one of the few Black’s to leave the house for love, many many years ago. Upon his death and his children’s, the house had been forgotten about and quietly returned to the Black property portfolio unnoticed. 

It was the perfect home for them, Remus thought. Smiling as he turned to Kreacher, Remus said, “We have about two hours before we need to return to Grimmauld place. If I work on giving the place a clean up, do you think you could start bringing our furniture over from the cottage in France?” 

Nodding, the elf replied, “Kreacher would be happy to, Master Remus. Kreacher thinks we can be ready to move in tomorrow.” 

Remus smiled and thanked the elf before he disappeared with a snap of his fingers. Rolling up his own sleeves, Remus took a deep breath and turned the handle of the front door.

~~~

It was late afternoon, the sun hanging halfway in the sky in France. Beyond the window of the endless library- the most enormous room, let alone library, that Tonks had ever seen in her entire life, lay an exquisite Italian style garden with what appeared to be peacocks strutting along the pathways which lead to fields and fields of sunflowers and wildflowers and even a full sized quidditch pitch. 

It was something of another world for Tonks. 

Interrupting her chain of thought, her Aunt Narcissa spoke up, “I can imagine how out of place you must have felt all day, and whilst you may have two of the most left feet I’ve ever seen on a witch, you should be proud of what you’ve accomplished today.” 

Tonks laughed and smiled at Narcissa. Her Aunt was the very epitome of beauty and grace, from everything she said, to the way that she stood, Narcissa Malfoy was an aristocrat through and through. And despite her airs and graces, her cool composure, and expressionless demeanour, Tonks had immediacy been drawn to Narcissa. The twinkle of amusement in her eyes when Tonks tripped over her own feet, or the very tiny hint of pride in her smile as Tonks memorised something correctly, reminded Tonks of her own mother. 

Narcissa, as much as she presented a face to her niece, had fallen in love with her straight away. Something about her feisty spirit and stubborn determination reminded her very much of her sister, and Narcissa hoped that working with Tonks, would give he the chance to become close with her sister once more. Not that she would be willing to make any moves for the time being. 

Smiling cheekily, grey eyes light with laughter, Tonks replied, “I don’t think I’ll ever be asked to dance with someone. But I had a nice afternoon with you, Aunt Narcissa” 

Narcissa smiled a warm smile at her niece, “I am glad you enjoyed yourself, Nymphadora. And it was very nice to have you out Draco in his place, it rarely happens and when it does is usually by Aries, who being younger than him, Draco does not pay much attention to.” 

Tonks giggled at Narcissa conspiratorial smirk. Draco, who was 7 years younger than her, had been boasting of his knowledge of our blood traditions and Tonks had gotten so frustrated at his infuriating smug expression that she’d charmed the letters of the book he as reading to move about on the page. 

Draco had glared and stomped from the room in a huff, before returning when Lucius had found him in a corridor muttering under his breath, and reminded his son of the duties of a good host. A raised eyebrow from Narcissa had Draco dropping his attitude and sulkily apologising for his behaviour. 

Shaking off the memory, Tonks smile became wistful, “It is strange that I have cousins who I’ve never met. Especially when I see Draco and realise they’d be more similar and more friendly with him than with me, despite the fact that it was my mum and Uncle Sirius who were closer when they were young.” 

Narcissa nodded her head and her voice was soft as she replied, “I agree that the life I live now is very different from the one I’d expected to live when I was your age. And at first it does seem how Sirius and I reconciled before your mother and he did, but if you think about it, we were both outcasts, neither of us had anything left for us in Britain, and even now both of us wonder if we are making the right decision. But it is for our children, the cousins who you might not know now, but who will love you as soon as they meet you, Nymphadora, that we are both returning to Britain as a force to be reckoned with.”

~~~

Sirius’ knee bounced up and down and every so often he shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. Eventually, Remus had had enough and dragged the wizard from the cozy room with a frustrated sigh. 

Smile weary but understanding, Remus looked at the wizard in front of him, “Tell me what’s running through your mind.” 

Sirius smiled ruefully at the man in front of him. Remus had been as horrified as Sirius had been at the ease with which Petunia had just handed over her nephew, and disgusted by the preliminary overview Sirius had gotten of Harry’s treatment living with the Dursley’s. His heart had pounded just as hard as Sirius’ had when he’d first lain eyes on the sleeping child Sirius had carried into their new home, who looked so very much like James and Lily. But he’d taken it much better than Sirius had. Sirius was still furious, tension still rolled through his veins and though Sirius knew in his head Harry’s life so far had been better than his own Merlin-awful childhood, his heart couldn’t move past the suffering his godson must have endured. 

Sighing heavily as he dropped onto the bench in the entrance way of the Manor, Sirius looked up at Remus, “All I can think of is how I should’ve checked if Harry was alive. How I should’ve demanded to know exactly what happened that night. Except I know I could would have done that. I lost all my faith in the ministry of magic the moment they tried to buy my forgiveness for Askaban with galleons. When they put me in Askaban in the first place. And when I think of the pit of depression I’ve managed to crawl out of, caused by them and that place, pride and fear and astonishment are equally present. But now Harry is here, truly really here and alive, all I can think is that I won’t be good enough. Aries and Elara are my very heart and soul, there is nothing I don’t know about them, but Harry? Harry is my innocent miracle godson who I abandoned for the last 4 years of his life. I don’t know him anymore and all I can think is that I won’t be able to help him.” 

Remus expression was a myriad of heartbreak and pride and sorrow and determination. His voice was soft but there was no room for argument as amber eyes pierced Sirius’ soul and a voice so fierce in its intensity there was nothing that Sirius could do but stare and smile and listen to the wizard who was his entire soul as Remus said, “I love you more than anyone loves anyone in the world, Sirius Black. When  I think of the depression you have survived, and the mental landlines you’ve overcome, my whole body sings with pride. Despite the days that are difficult to face, where you want nothing more than to hide, you get up. You get up and you make breakfast for our children and take them to school and you talk to me. Now I am no mind healer, no healer at all, but I know the strength and struggle that takes. And I know you Padfoot. I know how amazing and strong and how much of an incredible father you are. I know how protective and caring and understanding you are. Together, we’ll get to know Harry again. Soon he won’t remember his past with the Dursley’s. His memories will be full of nothing but joy and happiness, of us and the twins and his cousins and his true family. And when we meet obstacles we’ve never faced, we’ll face them together. After all, there was a time when we didn’t know how to feed a baby from a bottle. And then we had twins.” 

Sirius answering smile was full of joy. He couldn’t help leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Remus, placing his head in the crook of the mans neck and squeezing for all he was worth. No words could express his gratitude, but the kiss so tender and full of love and admiration that Sirius gave Remus told Remus everything he needed to hear. 

Both wizards then crept back into the room where Harry lay spewing on a sofa wrapped in a blanket. Remus suspected Harry had fallen asleep not only from physical exhaustion fromthe chores Petunia had him do, but also due to the emotional exhaustion of being freed from the people who’d never treated him right. Not long later Harry had woken up. 

Blinking awake slowly, Harry rubbed his eyes and wondered why it was so bright in his cupboard. And then he froze. He wasn’t in his cupboard. Tensing, his eyes became amber alert as he scanned the room and tried to remember where he was. 

Sirius and Remus shared a glance, sorrow passing between the pair. Remus nodded to Sirius, Harry knew Sirius better than he did Remus. 

Clearing his throat, drawing his afraid godson’s attention to himself, Sirius smiled gently and spoke, “Hey Harry, its me, Sirius. You fell asleep on the train, do you remember?” 

Slowly some of the tension left Harry’s body as his eyes darted around the room and finally landed on Sirius. Cautiously the scrawny boy nodded, still tightly clutching the blanket he’d been wrapped in. 

Smiling easily, Sirius spoke, “You managed to sleep all the way through the train ride, and since you were enjoying your nap so much, I thought I’d let you sleep some more. Welcome to Islebrey, Harry. Welcome home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t forget to leave a review or a comment if you like it, or if there’s something you'd like to see! And maybe leave kudos if you haven't yet ;) :)))


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days you’re welcome! On a serious note I had always planned for Harry to be Desi, and for the Dursley’s to be racist and treat Harry differently because of his heritage. However this of course in no way reflects my personal beliefs & I want to educate not only Harry about equality but myself and others. If there is anything you’d like to see, or want included on this topic please comment! 
> 
> That said, I hope you enjoy this chapter- lots of Harry and family moments and the set up for an explosive political drama of a next chapter!

Harry blinked awake slowly, unsure of his surroundings at first. And then he realised where he was. In the most enormous bedroom he’d ever seen, in some kind of mansion that his godfather owned. He’d had the best sleep of his life and immediately he realised why. For the first time in a long time Harry didn’t remember a sleepless sleep of nightmares, hadn’t woken up to Petunia or Vernon banging on his door, hadn’t been dragged from his bed and beaten for wetting the bed when he just couldn’t hold it in any longer and his cupboard had been locked. Harry felt as though he was in a dream and he wasn’t convinced that he really was awake. That was until he was distracted from his thoughts by hushed whispering from just beyond his door. Frowning Harry strained his ears, it didn’t sound like the whispering was angry, or from an adult, but he’d learnt you could never be too sure. 

Just as he was about to slide from his bed, the bedroom door slammed open and two children his own age crashed to the ground. Harry jumped up in shock, grabbing the nearest thing he could find, which turned out to be some kind of strange candle lamp. But it turned out that the intruders didn’t seem too interested in him. No, Harry lowered his makeshift weapon as he gazed in wonder at the two children glaring and squabbling at each other, then.

“Imbécile! Je te l’avais dit!” the girl with long black hair hissed, crossing her arms, glaring and shaking her head so her hair swished around her.

“I told you you’d get us lost! We don’t even know our way around and I  told you to stop pushing me- Daddy said Harry doesn’t like violence, what if he was here!” She continued.

The boy she was hissing at seemed her mirror image, in all but hair- he had the same high cheekbones, full lips and strange yellowish eyes, and the same furious expression. His hair though was a curly brown, the opposite of her razor straight black hair. The boy glared at the girl who could only be his sister and his voice was triumphant as he thrust a finger in Harry’s direction, “Well if you’re so smart, Elara, why haven’t you noticed that our cousin on the bed!”

Harry swallowed nervously and fidgeted as the girls eyes shot towards him. Heart pounding he said, “Erm, hello there.”

Elara, or at least that’s what Harry thought her brother had called her, stuck her tongue out at her brother and then turned to face Harry again. She rolled her eyes in the direction of her brother and grinned, “Enchanté Harry! You’re our cousin, we’re famille! My name is Elara and this is my twin brother Aries. We’re very sorry to have woken you up, we really were just trying to find our way around this house! Did you sleep well?” 

Harry didn’t know what to say- Sirius had told him that he had two children and these two seemed to fit the description, but he hadn’t believed they would be like this. He really did have cousins other than Dudley! Smiling hurriedly so they didn’t think he was rude, Harry replied, “Nice to meet you too, I’m Harry.”

Elara smiled back and even Aries stopped glaring at his sister to smile and say, “We‘re sorry for making you jump and I promise you don’t need that lamp to whack us with- save that for Kreacher!

Harry smiled sheepishly before his expression became confused again, “What’s Kreacher?”

Elara cut in before her brother could rely, “He’s a house elf, we only just inherited him, and he’s very grouchy but he‘s really helpful and makes the best snacks for goûter! I’m sure you don’t know what a house elf is, Papa told us your relatives didn’t tell you anything about magic or our world, but that’s okay we’ll explain anything any time you have a question. And you’ll meet Kreacher soon enough, he lives with us. Sometimes.”

Harry gave her a half smile, grateful that his cousin seemed to realise he had no idea about half of the things she was saying. Even if he felt embarrassed and stupid compared to his fascinating cousins who seemed from another world. Even the borrowed pyjamas which hung from his skinny body felt like a glaring sign that he didn’t belong.

Aries interrupted his thoughts, with a clap of his hands, which despite himself made Harry flinch. Thankfully Aries didn’t notice, but unbeknownst to Harry, Elara did with a frown.

Clearing his throat and dramatically sweeping his arms toward Harry, Aries grinned and said, “Are you up for an adventure Harry? You see, we were trying to find the kitchen, before we found you. Are you hungry?”

Harry thought about it for a second, he didn’t want to upset Sirius who’d brought him here, but the twins seemed excited so Harry smiled tentative,y back at Aries and said, “Starving!”

~~~

Around half hour later, the entire Lupin-Black family found themselves in the kitchen. 

Remus and Sirius had been amused but not surprised to wake up and realise that the twins had been sneaking around the house and had managed to find Harry’s room. And apparently convince him to join them in an adventure to find the kitchen.

Sirius cleared his throat to introduce himself as the pair entered the kitchen so as not to driven Harry. Only find Aries on a stool peering into the fridge, Elara and Harry watching and giggling from their seats by the breakfast bar. Raising one eyebrow at Aries, Sirius said, “I didn’t realise the cereal was kept in the fridge, Aries. Did you move it there, or did you not see it on the table? Also, since when was climbing over furniture allowed, or did you forget about that too?”

Elara giggled behind her hands; Harry watched, tension lining his face.

Aries grinned sheepishly, and took his hand from inside the fridge, hopping down from the stool. “I was looking for something from France for Harry to try, something he’d never had. But sorry for climbing on the stool, Daddy.”

Sirius shook his head ruefully but smiled, “You are forgiven as you had good intention Aries. But you know that rule is only in place to make sure you, or any of you, don’t get hurt, so make sure not to do it again, okay?”

Aries nodded his head and took a seat next to Harry, who had watched the exchange with utter surprise- he couldn’t believe Sirius hadn’t shouted at Aries when he’d done something against the rules! 

Remus then cleared his throat, interrupting Harry’s train of thought, and smiled at the children, “I’m glad to see you’ve all met, I do hope the twins didn’t wake you up Harry.”

Harry was startled to be asked but smiled gently and said, “No sir, I was already awake.”

Remus smiled a warm smile back, “That’s good, and no need to call me sir! Uncle Remus, Remus or even Moony will be just fine.”

Sirius grinned, “That goes for me too, Harry. You can call me Uncle Sirius, Sirius or Padfoot. Padfoot and Moony are our nicknames from school, your fathers was Prongs.”

Eyes widening in surprise, Harry had no other response than to nod. Luckily the pair seemed to accept that and moved on swiftly. Grinning still, Sirius turned to his son and said, “So, you wanted something French for breakfast, how about we make some crepes? And by we, I mean why doesn’t Papa make you some crepes whilst I tell you about our plans for today.”

Remus and the twins laughed, Sirius truly had never mastered the art of cooking, as often as he tried to learn. The atmosphere in the room was one of joy and excitement as the scent of warm crepes began to fill the room, and Sirius recounted various adventures that the marauders had once had in school, telling Harry more about his father than Petunia had his whole life.Soon enough the family was seated a stack of crepes in the middle of the table, bowls of strawberries and raspberries and sugar and melted chocolate surrounding them. A fancier breakfast than Harry could ever remember having, one that tasted better than anything Harry had ever been allowed to eat at the Dursley’s. It was a far cry from the lumpy porridge or burnt toast that Vernon laughingly gave Harry- ‘burnt black to match his skin’. 

Leaning back in his chair a smile on his face as he kissed Remus’ cheek, Sirius smiled softly at his partner and thanked him for ‘the best crepes in the whole world!’. The affection between the pair was obvious and Aries and Elara sighed dramatically and made mushy kissing noises. 

The two adults laughed and Sirius kissed Remus again laughing at the twins cry of disgust. Still laughing Sirius turned his attention to the children, “Now we’ve all filled up on a yummy breakfast we’ve got a busy day ahead of us! First of all, everyone gets to pick their new bedroom today and after you’ve all picked you get to decorate the room however you want. After that, we’ll have a light lunch and then it’s that time of year again, yep, it’s your annual medical check ups!” 

Aries and Elara groaned in disgust, but all Harry could focus on was the fact that he was going to get his own bedroom! Because surely not? Surely they knew he only deserved to stay in a cupboard. 

Heart pounding, a smile on his face, Harry spoke up excitement clear in his voice, “Wow! Do I really get my own bedroom? There was barely enough room in my cupboard for a bed, let alone having a whole room! Uncle Vernon said people who looked like me didn’t deserve anything else.” 

Hot red anger rippled through Remus and Sirius but it was Elara who spoke first. 

Eyes blazing with anger and voice high with righteous indignation, she cried, “What horrible muggles, making you sleep in a cupboard! You must have the biggest bedroom and the most things to make up for it, right Aries?” 

Aries nodded vehemently, horror and protectiveness battling for dominance on his face. Harry’s cheeks blazed pink and his eyes watered, he couldn’t remember anyone caring this much ever. He wondered when they would change their mind.

Sirius put an arm on each of his children’s shoulders before turning to Harry and taking his godson’s hand into his own, “What my children mean Harry, is that your Aunt and Uncle should never have let you sleep in a cupboard and that with us, you’ll have all the room and all the things you could ever want or need. And even more so Harry, you never need to think you deserve anything less because of the colour of your skin. Your Uncle was a bad man who thought bad things and in this house, everyone is treated equally no matter their skin colour, no matter who they love, or what they want to do, okay?” 

Harry looked from his godfather face to the still horrified faces of his cousins, to Remus’ warm, friendly expression and his heart swelled. He couldn’t believe how kind they were, didn’t understand why they were being so nice when he could never give them anything. He said this. 

Sirius shook his head and put a hand under Harry ‘schin, lifting Harry’s eyes to meet with his own, “We don’t need anything from you Harry. We just want you to be happy here, to want for nothing.” 

Sensing the boys embarrassment at being the centre of attention, Sirius smiled at Harry one last time, before drawing the attention back to himself, “Now where was I? Oh yes, Ted will be over after lunch to perform your medical examinations and then Elara and Aries you two need to catch up on some of your extra curricular activities- I’m not having Madame Lacrois tell me off for letting you get behind! Whilst you’re doing that, Harry, you’ll be spending the afternoon with Auntie Andy and Remus.” 

Aries sighed and nudged Harry with his shoulder, “Looks like you’re having a funner afternoon than we are.” 

Remus shook his head, “Firstly, a more fun afternoon. Secondly, you’ll thank us one day Aries, when you’re old and grey and manage to impress the ladies in the elderly section of St Mungo’s with your musical ability. Now everyone upstairs, we’ve got bedrooms to pick! 

Sticking his tongue out whilst Elara and Harry giggled, Aries was the first out of the kitchen, huffing about how he’d never have grey hair.

~~~

Ted came through the fireplace with a splutter, “Dear Merlin, you really need to clear out that floo entrance!” He exclaimed, waving green smoke from his face and flicking dust from his t shirt. 

Remus smiled sheepishly, “Sorry about that Ted, we didn’t even think about it with everything going on!” 

The wizard shrugged his shoulders and waved his hand with a grin, “Ah you’re forgiven, I can imagine the jump from two to three children under the age of 10 was a surprise and a half!” 

Laughing, Remus replied with a snort and a ‘you have no idea’. Leading Ted through the Manor, to the garden where the children were chasing Sirius in dog form, Remus explained that they’d told the children that it was time for their yearly medical check so that Harry wouldn’t feel like an outsider, as he would if he was the only one checked up. He also filled Ted in on the things Harry had let slip about his life with the Dursley’s- such as sleeping in a cupboard and the racist comments he’d suffered through and believed. 

Ted was as furious as Remus and Sirius had been, “I can’t believe Dumbledore never once checked in on the boy. No child deserved to live in a home like that. I suppose we should be grateful that the results of the abuse analysis shows there was little physical abuse, though the emotional abuse was astounding. I’ll see how the exam on goes, but I have a feeling I’ll be recommending mind healing and maybe even occlumency.” 

Remus’ brows lifted in shock, “Occlumency? Surely that won’t be necessary for a child so young. Harry’s barely 5!” 

Ted grimaced, “It is better for him to learn now, to begin building up mental defences and to heal from the invisible scars, than to risk simply moving over them which could lead to extensive mental health problems in the future. The wizarding world does not react well to PTSD and depression.” 

Sadness filled Remus’ eyes but he nodded in agreement. Remus and Sirius truly wanted nothing more than for Harry to be happy, and if occlumency was the requirement for that, then they would happily find a healer to teach him. 

At that moment Aries noticed Ted standing there. Ted grinned and waved at his nephew, who called out to his sister, and then they both promptly ran in the opposite direction and scaled the nearest trees. Remus and Ted burst out laughing, Sirius transforming from dog to man, rolling his eyes as he shouted after them. 

Harry looked back and forth from Ted to the twins up a tree, in apprehension. He slunk to Sirius side, half hiding behind him as he whispered, “Who’s that?”

Sirius bent down to meet Harry eyes and smiled, “It’s just Ted, you’ll love him I promise. The only reason the twins ran away is because last time they saw Ted they’d eaten a magical plant from the bottom of the garden which had to be removed with horrible tasting potions. Really the whole thing was their fault and quite funny afterward!” 

Harry giggled and then smiled shyly as Sirius stood up and took Harry’s hand. 

Winking at Harry, Sirius called over his shoulder, “First one to be seen by Uncle Ted gets a surprise!” 

Harry giggled as the twins shimmied from the trees, and raced across the field. Unfortunately they really had run too far, and Sirius and Harry reached Ted much before either of the twins, who arrived a few minutes later, red faced and panting. 

Elara scoffed at Aries, “I’m never ever very listening to you ever again!” 

Remus, Sirius and Ted shared a look that said ‘ children ’ before Remus narrowed his eyes at the twins and said, “Now you two, that was no way to welcome your Uncle. What do you have to say for yourselves?” 

Elara and Aries hung their hands and apologised to Ted for running away. 

Ted grinned, “That’s okay kids. How about I’ll forgive you both if you behave during your check up?” 

He then turned to Harry and smiled pleasantly, “Hi there Harry. My names Ted Tonks, it’s nice to meet you!” 

Harry smiled shyly and said hello back. 

Sirius smiled, “Right then Harry, since you were first over here you’ll go first and then you can have a treat of your choice at the shops this afternoon, how about that?” 

Harry nodded enthusiastically, and went with Sirius and Ted into one of the living rooms he had found with Aries and Elara that morning. 

Sirius knelt down to Harry’s height once again and spoke softly as Ted set down his healers bag and begun to set up, “This will be over easy-peasy we just have to make sure you’re all up to date on your health. I’ll be right here next to you and if there’s anything you don’t want to do, you just let me know, okay?” 

Harry nodded, still nervous, but his heart beating less furiously. Palms sweating slightly as Ted called him over, Harry sat on the stool Ted had conjured. 

Ted smiled at Harry, “Now I’m assuming you’ve never had a magical check up before, so I’ll just run through what we’re going to do. So today all I need to do is check some simple things like your height, weight, eyesight and breathing. And then at the end, you’ll get a lollipop!” 

Sirius watched as Harry relaxed slowly, Ted was doing an amazing job of interacting with him, explaining what he did as he did it and distracting Harry so well that soon Harry was no longer nervous in his replies to Ted questions. Smiling to himself, Sirius made a mental note to get Ted a gift, using all of his muggleborn childhood experiences was genius and Harry had really warmed to Ted. 

Twenty minutes later Harry hopped from the stool and took a lollipop from Ted with a thank you. A nod of permission from Sirius had Harry skipping from the room and back to his cousins. 

Ensuring the door was shut and that the children wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop Sirius to turned to Ted, “So, what’s the verdict?” 

Ted sighed, “I don’t know how Harry is so trusting with the life he’s had. He’ll need treatment for malnutrition, stunted growth and emotional abuse. I’ll give you a list of potions and a schedule for when he needs to take them, as well as the immunisations that all wizarding children get- i.e. dragon pox, spattergroit, the usual.He also needs glasses. And I‘m going to recommend mind-healing and occlumency, a course of 6-8 weeks should help his transition to the wizarding world and resolve any lingering issues as a result of the abuse. My biggest concern however, is Harry’s scar. The dark energy that resonates from it is more than residual from a dark curse. I have a friend who specialises in curse healing, in particular removing dark energy from its host and onto a source object.”

Sirius frowned, “I expected there to be some issues, but leftovers from dark magic cast 5 years ago worries me. Please contact your friend and arrange for a meeting as soon as possible.” 

Sirius then sighed and shook his head, running his hand through his hair. “The more time passes, the more angry I become with Albus. A wizard as powerful as he, should have and once upon a time would have made sure to check that scar as soon as he assumed responsibility for him, and should have checked upon him once he dropped that responsibility onto someone else.” 

Ted expression was thoughtful, “It’s eye opening. And leads me to question why I put my faith in him in the first place as a young man. But we cannot change the past, only the present. And you and Remus are the very best thing for Harry. I know it. A few weeks from now and he’ll not need half the potions I prescribe today, a few months from now he’ll barely remember life with the Dursley’s, a few years from now he‘ll be an unrecognisable young man who life is full of happiness and excitement.“ 

Sirius smiled, “I hope so.”

~~~

Remus was thoroughly enjoying his coffee, and the very large chocolate cake that he’d also ordered. Harry giggled as Remus stretched back in his chair declared he couldn’t possibly eat anything else, and then took another mouthful of cake and cream and chocolate. 

Andy rolled her eyes, “I swear you are worse than Sirius. And that’s saying something.” 

Remus looked affronted and Harry laughed again. He hadn’t felt this carefree in a long time. He’d spent a wonderful afternoon with his Aunt Andy, who already was a million times better than Petunia, and Remus. Andy was kind and patient and a peaceful person with a good sense of humour, though Harry did sense she wasn’t a person to mess with. Not that Aries probably cared, Harry had thought with a smile. 

Normally the thought of shopping would horrify him, lugging around Aunt Petunia’s bags for hours, followed by watching her eat delicious foods, stomach rumbling and limbs aching. This time though, they’d gone to store after store after store and Harry had picked out more clothes than he imagined he’d ever need and as soon as they were paid for, Remus magicked them to the Manor so no one even had to carry them! They’d gone to multiple muggle shopping centres, stopping for regular hydration breaks as Remus called them, or cake stops as Andy scoffed. Harry had shoes and coats and clothes and hats and even a whole array of sunglasses. Even more exciting were the wizard clothes that they bought, Andy had been in charge of this section of the shopping. Whilst standing still and being fitted for formal robes and other things wasn’t as fun as wondering around picking out things he liked, watching the magic in the store made it a million times more exciting. His very favourite moment was when he picked up his new glasses frames and Remus had smiled and said, “You look so much like your father, Harry. He would be so proud of you.” 

Harry wouldn’t forget the glow from that moment for a long time. And secretly, having clothes that matched the style of his cousins made him feel like he belonged, made him feel like less of an outsider. 

Tuning out of the conversation the adults were having, Harry watched the people, well wizards, that were walking past. Most dressed in old fashioned clothes that he’d never seen before, Remus had said they were called robes, and were the typical clothes of older wizards. He’d joked young wizards like himself and Sirius, mixed robes with muggle clothes. The street they were on, Diagon Alley, Remus had called it, was bustling. Harry liked the energy, busy enough that you weren’t noticed as you wandered along, but calm enough that you were free to wander about and enjoy the sights. Vaguely, Harry became aware of a voice in the background and then realised Remus was calling his name. 

“Harry? Harry, did you hear?” 

Harry snapped his head in Remus’ direction, cheeks pink as he realised he’d been lost in his head. 

Remus grinned and his eyes twinkled with amusement, “We were just discussing schooling, Harry. Elara and Aries attend a summer school three days a week with a small number of children from the village we lived in in France. And during term time this is the school they attend everyday. Andromeda wondered whether you’d like her to be your French tutor, if you learn French, not only will you be able to go to the same school as your cousin, but you’ll have one more thing in common with your cousins. It might seem like a lot of hard work for no reason, but I speak 6 languages and I’ve always found it useful. It’s entirely your choice, Harry. Why don’t you think it over and then tell me what you’re thinking?” 

Harry nodded and thought. He didn’t like the school he’d gone to much, and hadn’t even considered the fact that he’d probably move to another. And what Elara and Aries had mentioned of their school sounded a hundred times nicer than his primary school. He was nervous though, he’d probably be loads behind since at school he’d learnt not to do better than Dudley and Dudley was  not the average student. But Aunt Andy seemed really nice and she’d patient and had been a good explainer so far. 

Remus smiled patiently as Harry thought, and asked Andy a question about her drink. A few moments later he asked Harry, “So, what are your first thoughts?” 

Harry smiled nervously and played with his straw as he spoke, “I would like to understand what Elara and Aries are saying when they forget the English. I’m not very good at school though, Uncle Vernon .. well Uncle Vernon didn’t like when I was better than Dudley at school so I didn’t try. I’m sure I’ll be rubbish.” 

Andromeda spoke up, her smile warm, “Nonsense Harry! I am an excellent teacher and speak French even better than Sirius and Remus though I’ve never lived there so you’re in safe hand with me! Besides in France children start learning English as soon as they go to school, so lots of the children and the adults will understand you even if you don’t quite understand them.” 

Thinking about this, Harry nodded, “Yes please then Auntie Andy, I would like it if you tutored me.” 

Andromeda‘s smiled widened and she clasped her hands together, “Brilliant! And on the subject of tutoring, along with my sister, Narcissa, I will also be teaching you and your cousins about Ancient Houses, and about the Wizarding world traditions you’ll need to know.” 

To Harry, this sounded like a lot of education. Secretly though, he was pleased that his cousins were going to involved in these classes. It meant they too didn’t know things and made him feel less embarrassed. 

Remus smiled conspiratorially at the pair, “Now, I think it’s time we headed to our final stop of this trip, to collect your treat Harry, for being the brave one and having your medical check up first. Off to Quality Quidditch Supplies we go!”

~~~

It had been a intense day for the Lupin-Black family, particularly the three children. On top of the painting contributions they each made in their new bedrooms, which admittedly were terrible even if done with pride, they’d run around for an hour with Padfoot, had a medical check-up, spent several hours practising piano and potions skills or doing intense shopping and then finished off the day with miniature quidditch, which was mostly a workout for Harry who’d obviously never played before. 

Unsurprisingly, after their bath and bedtime story each child fell asleep within minutes. For Remus and Sirius, however, the day was not quite over yet. 

Sirius smiled wearily as he dropped onto the sofa beside Remus, “I don’t know about you Moony, but I am absolutely exhausted!” 

Remus’ answering grin only widened Sirius’ smile, “Right back at you Padfoot. Let’s do all the things that need to be done today as soon as we can, so we can head upstairs to our lovely ginormous bed, where we can lie down and completely ignore each other and go to sleep.” 

Laughing heartily, Sirius shook his head and touched Remus’ cheek, “You utter tease. But yes, I’ve a feeling we need to compare notes. Who wants to go first?” 

Leaning into the hand on his cheek before kissing Sirius softly on the forehead, Remus went first, “This afternoon went well actually for the most part. Harry warmed up to Andy straight away, mostly I think because she was the complete opposite to Petunia. The only hiccup really, was at first when Harry kept choosing only dark clothes. I asked him why and he said that  _pig_ Vernon told him he should only ever wear dark clothes to match the dirt of his skin. After that we picked golds and greens and blues and reds. At the end of the trip we discussed schooling and he wants to learn French so he can keep up with the twins and go to their school.” 

Remus frowned and then continued, “He also mentioned that Dursley didn’t like it when Harry did better than his awful son so Harry didn’t try. So he may be a bit behind, but considering he’s a barely five it’s not too much of a concern and we’ve plenty of time to change the habit.” 

After a few moments of consideration of all that his parter had told him, Sirius sighed wearily, “Well unfortunately, my news is more concerning.” 

Remus squeezed Sirius hand in silent support and after a deep breath, Sirius continued. 

“In essence it is not nearly so bad as it could have been and mostly nothing worse than we had expected. We’d already guessed at the stunted growth and malnutrition, and obviously the lack of wizarding immunisations. Ted said he’d mentioned the mind healing and occlumency to you, and I honestly agree with it. It was the reason I survived Azkaban, during and after.” 

Remus’ expression softened and he squeezed Sirius’ arm once more. Sirius smiled softly in return. 

Then he grimaced, “Unfortunately there is some bad news. Harry’s scar, left over from whatever happened that night, carries a severe amount of dark magic, too much to be residual, more likely to be a contained curse. Ted thankfully has a colleague who specialises in dark curse healing and has made an urgent appointment for Friday. I just, I’m more angry than I’ve ever been. It’s is inexcusable to steal a child from his family, inexcusable to place him in an abusive home even if he didn’t realise, because the only reason he didn’t realise was because he never bothered to check. It is absolutely despicable to not do everything you possibly could as the most powerful wizard of your generation to remove the after effects of exposure of a dark curse, from the 15-month old infant who you stole.” 

Rage overtook Remus and his inner wolf rose to the surface uncontrolled for the first time in many years, eyes blazing yellow as fury roared through his veins. 

Voice a gutteral sound from deep in the bottom of his throat, Remus growled, “That’s it. I can’t take this, can’t allow this. We’re going to have to change our plan, Padfoot. We’re going to take Albus Dumbledore down, and we’re going to do it sooner rather than later. 

~~~

Returning to the headquarters of the Moste Ancient and Noble House of Black resulted in mixed feelings for Douglas Mercier. He’d decided it was a combination of anticipation, trepidation and excitement. 

When he’d signed as the House of Black’s solicitor he knew he’d be at the forefront of change needed so badly in the wizarding world, he just hadn’t expected it would be quite so explosive and quite so soon. But he was ready to be a part of it, ready to shake up his world, shock it into seeing how stuck it was and be on the right side of change. 

Lord Sirius Orion Black strode into the room, his partner Lord Remus John Lupin behind him. Both wizards were impeccably dressed in formal robes adorned with the Black and Potter crests, Douglas noticed with faint amusement.The pair were an impressive formidable and dangerous looking duo; Douglas didn’t envy their enemies. To his surprise, Andromeda Tonks and Lucius Malfoy strode into the room moments later, also adorned in robes of the House of Black, and in the case of Malfoy, the House of Malfoy. Each nodded to the Lupin-Black’s before nodding to Douglas. 

Once all 5 were seated, Sirius ordered a wizened house elf to supply his guests with water and writing materials. 

Sirius then turned to his audience, smile grim and eyes sparkling, “Welcome. Welcome to the war council. Today is the day that this fight starts in earnest. Harry Potter, my godson, is safe and home where he belongs. Hogwarts has turned it back on Dumbledore. Even Mister Fudge is realising where his intentions should lie. But it is not enough. Albus Dumbledore needs to be removed from this society like the weed he is. The Wizangamot will be reorganised from it’s very core. And we begin today.”

~~~

As Islebrey snapped into view Sirius smiled despite himself. The place had quickly become home, and Sirius knew it was because it was the place Harry knew as his new home. Beside him Remus’ expression reflected Sirius’ very thoughts, and the wizard squeezed Sirius’ hand. It had been a long day at Grimmauld Place. 

The war council as Remus had dubbed it, had gone well and they had a clear plan. The next Wizangamot session, in one weeks time, would be one Britain would remember for some time. Before then however, the first stage of the first prong of their many-staged three-pronged plan would be put into place.Prong one consisted of rebuilding the reputation of the House of Black, and stage one, well stage one had been put into place already. Minister Fudge would have already received the letter that would shock him into leadership. The Daily prophet had been given the most sensational story, a tale of tradgedy, true love, and trust in the wrong wizard. And there was no doubt in Sirius’ mind that Augusta Longbottom would tomorrow morning be a new man. 

Remus touched Sirius’ cheek, “Lets enjoy tonight. It all changes tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I hope you enjoyed, let me know in the comments below! And if you’re new or haven’t done so yet and want to see more of the story remember to leave kudos as it lets me know you like what you’re reading! 
> 
> :)


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